The Leather Forecast

Recently, a lot of designers have been presenting animal-cruelty-free collections to appeal to the growing market of vegetarian fashionistas.

So what.

Sounds pretty foolproof, if you’d ask me.

But is it really? Whereas animals are getting the good end of the deal on this environmental movement, are the costs beginning to outweigh the benefits?

First let’s look at some of the different types of vegan leather:

Pleather- This term was coined by Amy Bach of Mills Clothing, who needed a way to market a new form of plastic-based faux leather. Though the material is much lighter than leather, it won’t be able to decompose as quickly.

Poromeric Leather- This describes a type of synthetic leather created by layering polyurethane or other plastic coating on top of a polyester fiber base.

Koskin- Translated from Swedish, Koskinn literally means “cow skin”. Koskin is a form of fake leather, usually put on laptop and phone cases, that is made to look and feel authentic.

Leatherette- This textile is created by covering a fabric layer with a thin layer of PVC. Leatherette is often found in clothing, books, and car seat covers. This fabric is more durable, but not very breathable and can be extremely flammable.

Pretty dry stuff. But all those long “poly” words are significant. These synthetic substances could be even less eco-friendly than real leather in the grand scheme of things. They go through extensive factory processing with loads of chemicals that probably aren’t helping our smog-ridden cities.

The future of humanity?

It’s a choice we have to make as trend connoisseurs. Does one buy the faux leather motorcycle jacket to save the animals, the real leather motorcycle jacket to save the atmosphere, or no jacket at all? Because what’s the point of wearing a motorcycle jacket if it’s not leather? Or what’s the point in wearing any jacket that’s not leather? I should just start a leather/faux leather revolution and we’ll all just walk around looking like Trinity from The Matrix. That or I should teleport back to the fifties and join a motorcycle gang. Decisions, decisions.