Aastha Chahal
“Being vegan is not a trend; it’s an awakening.”
When we talk about veganism, many people hear the word “diet” as the most important part of the conversation. After all, one of the most well-known aspects of the vegan lifestyle involves not eating meat or animal by-products. However, by emphasising diet as the heart of veganism, we may be doing vegans a disservice. Veganism is about far more than just controlling what goes into one’s mouth, and disregarding these other aspects of the vegan lifestyle diminishes its power. “A way of life that seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other reason,” according to the Vegan Society. Veganism entails consciously avoiding any practice that harms animal welfare or subjugates animals for our own advantage. Veganism entails consciously avoiding any practice that harms animal welfare or dominant animals for our advantage. Diet is an integral part of the vegan lifestyle. Vegans refuse to consume meat, eggs, dairy, or any other animal by-product, even honey produced by bees. But it’s a lot more than that.
One of the essential components of a vegan lifestyle is fashion. The clothes we wear, the materials used, and the process incorporated to make it all make a lot of difference. The vegan lifestyle has more to do with the intent and the consumer’s mindfulness.
People think that switching to a vegan diet is the ultimate thing to do, but the fashion choices that we make as consumers do not harm the environment, animals for that matter. Switching to sustainable and vegan fashion can make a huge difference. Vegan fashion is much more than clothes. It also includes vegan footwear. Wearing vegan shoes and clothing can be very rewarding, but some good vegan footwear brands are hard to come by. There are many brands to choose from, like Viron, which is 100% plant-based and uses slow fashion so it is important to choose one that works for you. It is now easier than ever to change to sustainable fashion, as many new brands are being launched that are completely sustainable and vegan. Simply put, a vegan wardrobe is one that does not include silk, leather, fur, wool, cashmere. If the clothes have any sort of animal by-product, it is not vegan. What goes on behind making these extremely beautiful furs and leather clothes might want you to shift your fashion choices from fur to vegan. The animals are exploited on farms for fur and other materials. The way these animals are transported, reared, or even slaughtered after exploiting them for fur etc, is ruthless. Global organisations such as Humane Society International and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have documented widespread abuse of animals for the sake of fashion.
Along with other industries, the fashion industry has also realized how the environment is affected by their actions. This eco-awareness in the fashion industry has proved to be detrimental. But after all this awareness about animal cruelty, how does one make a conscious choice when it comes to fashion. Many fashion brands have adopted the vegan approach, and a number of new brands are being launched that are completely vegan and sustainable.
Many environmental organizations have been working to make people aware and help them choose and switch to vegan fashion choices. One such organization is PETA. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to establishing and safeguarding the rights of all animals on a global scale. According to PETA, animals, like people, can feel pain and desire to live their own lives. As a result, they are not to be used for food, clothing, experimentation, recreation, or other purposes. PETA and its supporters work to raise awareness of animal cruelty among lawmakers and the general public around the world and promote the right of all animals to be treated with respect.
The brands that commit to PETA not to use products of animal origin get a PETA-APPROVED VEGAN label for their collection. Thus, it becomes easy for consumers to switch to vegan fashion brands if they have this label. As PETA India states, “PETA India works with designers and brands in the fashion industry to bring animal-friendly styles to you. To make it easy for you to have killer looks without killing animals, PETA India teams companies up with our friends at PETA US for a (PETA-Approved Vegan) logo that enables them to highlight their vegan handbags shoes, clothing, accessories, and other retail items. Popping up on products everywhere, this nifty logo makes it a snap to spot animal-friendly items at a glance.” PETA India has provided a list of fashion brands that are completely vegan and have the PETA Approved vegan label. The number of these brands is increasing every day, thus giving a wide range of sustainable choices to consumers.
However, certain things need to be kept in mind while choosing vegan brands, such as merely avoiding animal products will not immediately make your clothing more environmentally friendly. Many vegan items are created from synthetics sourced from fossil fuels, which are difficult to degrade and can harm our aquatic life. Consumers/shoppers can rely on research (including sustainable vegan listings from various brands) done by various organizations like PETA, Good on You, etc, to make choices while switching to vegan brands. Many alternatives to animal-derived materials are available in the market, such as leather made from corn, seaweed, linings made from flowers, etc. The consumer can easily switch up to.
Some brands allege that they use eco-friendly leather; however, they use PVC-based leather equally harmful to the environment. It is believed that it is difficult to have an alternative to leather, but that’s not the case. Many brands are coming up with unique options to leather such as Piñatex (made from pineapple leaves) and apple leather (made from apple cores and leftover skin from apple harvests) — they provide an additional source of income for fruit farmers. There’s also cactus leather, which is high quality and uses very little water to grow. One of the advantages of switching to vegan brands is that smaller brands come to the limelight, thus giving small designers and brands a unique place amongst the huge fashion brands.
Veganism is sometimes portrayed as impossible and unattainable, especially in fashion. However, with the fashion brands like Stella McCartney switching to a vegan approach and coming off several small fashion brands which are completely vegan and sustainable, the choice for consumers has just increased manifold.
