Vegan fashion: Certifications, market data, and guides to decluttering

From fashionunited.in

The vegan fashion market is a niche but increasingly important sector, driven by the demand for cruelty-free products. According to data from the American research company Market.Us, the global vegan fashion market is projected to reach approximately 1,281.2 billion dollars by 2034. This is up from 556.3 billion dollars in 2024. This growth represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7 percent during the forecast period from 2025 to 2034.

Vegan fashion represents a sector that exclusively uses materials free of animal products

Peta has developed a guide to help consumers identify "cruel" materials in their wardrobes Credits: FashionUnited, image generated with the help of AI

Vegan fashion is a sector within the broader apparel industry that exclusively uses materials free from animal products. This approach aligns with the values of consumers who are conscious of ethics, the environment, and health. It prioritises the use of alternatives to leather, wool, silk, and other animal-derived resources.

Design and production processes are guided by the principles of cruelty-free sourcing and sustainability. They cater to a growing demographic that prioritises animal welfare and environmental impact in their purchasing decisions.

The vegan fashion market includes the production, distribution, and sale of clothing, footwear, and accessories that strictly adhere to vegan principles. This market segment is expanding as more consumers choose sustainable and ethically sourced products.

Rise of ethical consumerism has propelled vegan fashion into the spotlight

The rise of ethical consumerism has pushed vegan fashion into the spotlight, making it a significant niche within the global fashion industry. Companies operating in this space are increasingly innovating with synthetic and plant-based materials. They aim to offer durable, stylish, and accessible alternatives to traditional animal-based products. According to the Eurispes 2025 Report, 9.5 percent of Italian adults identify as vegetarian or vegan, a figure that has remained stable compared to the previous year. Of these, 2.9 percent are vegan, a number that, according to the 2014-2025 historical series, has nearly quintupled since 2014.

Consequently, a growing number of companies are obtaining animal-free certifications and ratings. For example, Animal Free Fashion is a rating system by Lav (Lega Anti Vivisezione). It was created to promote ethical, sustainable fashion that respects both animals and the environment.

The animal rights organisation Peta, an acronym for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), recently announced that over one thousand companies are using the “Peta-Approved Vegan” logo. This is used to highlight “clothing, accessories, furniture, and home decor items made with vegan alternatives to animal-derived materials, such as leather, fur, silk, feathers, or bone”.

All companies using the logo must sign a Peta statement of assurance certifying that the product is vegan Credits: Peta

All companies using the logo must sign a PETA statement of assurance certifying that the product is vegan.

Bonprix, Ecoalf, H&M, Harvest & Mill, Hugo Boss, and Hunter are just some of the companies using the logo. Among the Italian firms are Gamberini Italia and Italian Converter, a producer of innovative and sustainable fabrics for footwear, leather goods, apparel, and furniture. The shoe brand Marzeri Milano and Save the Duck also feature on the list.

PETA has also developed a vegan clothing shopping guide. It helps consumers identify "cruel" materials in their wardrobes and purchase vegan and animal-free clothing and accessories when shopping.

Leather and exotic skins

What are they? Leather is the skin of animals such as cows, pigs, goats, kangaroos, ostriches, cats, and dogs. Leather items are often not accurately labelled, so you never really know where (or from whom) they come. Snakes, alligators, crocodiles, and other reptiles are considered "exotic" in the fashion industry. They are killed and their skins are turned into bags, shoes, and other items.

What is wrong with it, according to PETA? Most leather comes from cows killed for meat and milk, making it a by-product of the meat and dairy industries. Leather is also the worst material for the environment. It not only shares responsibility for the environmental destruction caused by the meat industry but also pollutes the Earth with toxins used in the tanning process. PETA emphasises: “Whether it comes from cows, cats, or snakes, no animal should have to die for humans to wear its skin.”

Brands and materials to wear. PETA assures: “Today, most major brands offer synthetic leather, from affordable options at shops like Topshop and Zara to high-fashion designers like Stella McCartney and Bebe. Look for ‘vegan leather’ on the labels of clothes, shoes, and accessories. High-quality synthetic leather is made from many different materials, including non-animal microfibres, recycled nylon, polyurethane (PU), and even plants, including mushrooms and fruit. And lab-grown, bio-fabricated leather will also be in stores soon.”

Wool, shearling, cashmere and angora

What are they? Wool is the hair of a lamb or sheep, while shearling is the skin of a lamb with the fleece still attached. Angora is the wool of a rabbit, and cashmere is the hair of the Cashmere goat.

What is wrong with it, according to PETA? The guide states: “Sheep produce only the wool they need to protect themselves from extreme temperatures and do not need humans to shear them. Yet, in the wool industry, their ears are pierced, their tails are docked, and the males are castrated, all without any painkillers. Wool also harms the environment by degrading the soil, polluting water, and contributing to climate change. Lambs, goats, and rabbits are also mistreated and killed for shearling, cashmere, and angora.”

Alternative brands and materials. Vegan shearling and warm, cruelty-free jumpers are easy to find today. The environmental association suggests that major brands like H&M, Nasty Gal, and Zara offer wool-free coats and other animal-friendly garments. High-fashion designers, including Joshua Katcher of Brave GentleMan and Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart of Vaute, collaborate with manufacturers to create innovative, high-quality materials. The guide specifies: “Look for vegan fabrics in twill, cotton, and recycled polyester: efficient materials that repel water, dry faster, and are better for the environment than wool.”

Fur

What is fur? Fur is literally the coat of an animal still attached to its skin. Animals killed for fur include bears, beavers, cats, chinchillas, dogs, foxes, minks, rabbits, raccoons, and seals.

PETA points out: “Whether it comes from an animal on a fur farm or one trapped in the wild, every fur coat or trim is the result of tremendous suffering and the sacrifice of a life. On fur farms, animals spend their entire existence confined to cramped, filthy wire cages before being suffocated, electrocuted, gassed, or poisoned.

Regardless of the species, these animals feel pain, fear, and loneliness: they do not deserve to be tortured and killed for a fur-trimmed jacket." Regarding alternatives, the association adds that Gap Inc., H&M, and Inditex are three of the biggest names on a long list of retailers that have completely abandoned fur. Gucci and Michael Kors have also recently banned it, and Norway has issued a total ban on fur farming, following the example of many other countries.

Silk and down

Silk is the fibre that silkworms weave to create their cocoons; it is sometimes used for shirts and dresses. Down is the soft layer of feathers closest to a bird's skin; down stolen from geese and ducks is found in puffer jackets, pillows, and bedding. Peta points out that other feathers are also used to decorate clothes and accessories.

What is wrong with it, according to the animal rights association? To obtain silk, distributors boil silkworms alive inside their cocoons. The guide states: “Anyone who has seen worms flinch when their home is uncovered must recognise that these animals are sentient. Silk is also considered the second-worst material for the environment in the fashion industry, just after leather. Down is often obtained by painfully plucking live birds and is also a by-product of the foie gras and meat industries. Silk and feathers belong to the animals that created them.”

Brands like Express, Gap Inc., and Nasty Gal offer satin and silky items not derived from animals, explain PETA's experts. Nylon, milkweed pod fibres, cotton-tree filaments (kapok), polyester, and rayon are vegan materials that are easy to find and usually less expensive than silk. For silk-free underwear, Wama Underwear uses hemp as an alternative. For down enthusiasts, PETA has compiled a list of cruelty-free garments.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

https://fashionunited.in/news/fashion/vegan-fashion-certifications-market-data-and-guides-to-decluttering/2026020553117

Why People Are Becoming Vegan For the Animals

From thehaveringdaily.co.uk

People are becoming vegan not because it is fashionable but because they can no longer ignore what happens behind closed doors in modern farming.

For many, the decision begins the moment they see the conditions animals are kept in. The reality of factory farming is deeply disturbing. Animals are treated as units of production rather than living beings. Pigs are confined in crates so small they cannot turn around. Chickens are packed into sheds by the tens of thousands, never seeing daylight. Calves are separated from their mothers within hours of birth. These are not rare cases.

The animals feel fear, stress and pain just as any companion animal would. Yet society has created a system where suffering is hidden from view while meat appears neatly packaged on supermarket shelves. People are told these systems are necessary, efficient and humane, but the evidence tells a very different story. Investigations repeatedly show animals living in filth, injured, distressed and killed at speed to meet demand. For many new vegans, this knowledge becomes impossible to live with.

A growing number of people are also questioning something deeper. Speciesism. The idea that some animals deserve love and protection while others exist purely to be eaten. Dogs are cherished members of families. Yet pigs who are as intelligent as dogs, cows who form deep social bonds and chickens who recognise faces are treated as disposable commodities. The moral contradiction is becoming harder to ignore.

People ask themselves uncomfortable questions. If harming a dog is unthinkable, why is harming a pig acceptable. If a cow can feel fear and grief, why is her suffering dismissed. Veganism for the animals challenges this hierarchy and asks people to extend compassion consistently rather than selectively.

Social media and documentaries have played a major role in this shift. Footage from inside farms and slaughterhouses has broken through carefully controlled narratives. People are seeing what the industry does not want them to see. Once seen, it cannot be unseen. Many say the moment they understood the reality, they could no longer participate in it.

Choosing veganism becomes an act of refusal. A refusal to fund cruelty. A refusal to accept that violence is normal. A refusal to believe that taste or tradition justifies suffering. It is also an act of empathy. For animals who cannot speak. For lives that are treated as expendable.

This movement is not driven by perfection or purity. It is driven by conscience. By the belief that if we have a choice to cause less harm, we should take it. As plant based options become more accessible, the question for many is no longer why go vegan, but why continue to support a system built on suffering when we do not have to.

For those who choose veganism for the animals, it is not about food. It is about justice. It is about ending the idea that some lives matter and others do not. It is about recognising that compassion should not stop at the edge of a plate.

https://thehaveringdaily.co.uk/2026/02/05/why-people-are-becoming-vegan-for-the-animals/ 

The UK is finally freeing hens from cages – here’s what the 2032 cage ban means for animal welfare

From veganfoodandliving.com

Phasing out cages is finally on the UK government’s agenda, but will the 2032 ban actually deliver for animals? Only if we learn from the past...

The British countryside is often pictured as an idyllic landscape of roaming livestock, yet for millions of animals, the reality is far more confined.

For decades, activists have campaigned against the industrial ‘stacking’ of sentient beings, waiting for a legislative shift that feels permanent. That shift may have finally arrived.

On 12th January 2026, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) launched a major consultation on a proposed ban of colony cages for egg-laying hens. Starting with a ban on introducing new colony cages and similar caging systems, along with eradicating any existing battery cages in use, the proposed legislation aims for a total phase-out of cages by 2032.

This follows Defra’s Animal Welfare Strategy for England, a set of reforms published in December 2025, which promised to see the end of trail hunting and snare traps in the UK along with vast improvements for domestic and farmed animals.

The reforms start by phasing out the use of existing battery cage systems in the UK. Photo © Sittisak/Adobe Stock

Is the 2032 cage ban a realistic goal?

The road to a cage-free Britain is currently occupied by millions of hens still living in ‘enriched’ colony systems. While the proposal sounds like a definitive win, history teaches us that agricultural timelines can be as fragile as an eggshell.

Critics often point to the 2012 EU-wide ban on battery cages as a cautionary tale. While it successfully removed the most cramped, barren cages, it simply replaced them with the ‘enriched’ colony versions that the UK now looks to phase out.

These systems only offer each hen space roughly the size of an A4 sheet of paper – a scant improvement on the previous battery cages. And, as stated in Defra’s consultation, the colony cage system still “restricts choice, preventing access to the ground and other levels, and limiting the ability to run, flap wings, dustbathe or forage.”

In a Defra press release, Dame Angela Eagle, the UK’s Farming Minister, stated that the government is “committed to improving the lives of farm animals” while supporting farmers to remain profitable. However, whether this leads to a total welfare revolution or another half-measure transition remains in question.

The risk of a ‘barn egg’ loophole

There is a growing concern that phasing out cages could lead to a mass shift toward intensive indoor barn systems. In these environments, while hens aren’t behind bars, they can face different welfare issues, such as smothering or injurious pecking in high-density flocks. Without strict regulations on stocking densities and environmental enrichment, a cage-free label doesn’t automatically mean a happy hen.

Anthony Field, Head of Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) UK, noted that the consultation is an “extremely encouraging move” and a “huge” step towards addressing the suffering of millions. However, the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) has voiced additional concerns that the ban could “deliver little meaningful benefit for hens” if not paired with protections against imported eggs produced to lower standards.

The ban may offer some welfare improvements for British hens, but if imported eggs – produced in cramped conditions – are cheaper, there may be little benefit overall. Photo © poco_bw/Adobe Stock

Beyond the colony cage ban

The Animal Welfare Strategy for England goes beyond banning cages for hens. It’ll also see the phasing out of farrowing cages and CO2 stunning for pigs, along with exploring alternatives to animal testing.

To ensure this strategy doesn’t fizzle out, experts are calling for robust financial support for farmers and strict trade protections. As the consultation remains open until 9th March 2026, the coming weeks will determine if 2032 is a true milestone or just another moving target in the history of agricultural compromise.

https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/2032-cage-ban-hens-uk/ 

Compassionate Living: The Vegan Approach to Reducing Harm

From michaelcorthelll.substack.com

One argument often raised against veganism is the claim that crop harvesting leads to animal deaths. Critics assert that the cultivation of crops, especially on a large scale, results in the unintentional killing of small animals such as rodents, insects, and other wildlife. These deaths can occur due to mechanical harvesting equipment, pesticides, and habitat disruption. While it's true that current non-vegan farming practices result in unintended harm to animals, this observation does not justify continuing or expanding animal agriculture. Rather, it serves as a compelling reason to advocate for a shift towards more ethical and sustainable agricultural practices.

‘‘Many small animals, including insects, are killed in the production and harvesting of corn. Notably, most of the corn grown in the United States is used for purposes other than human food, such as livestock feed, biofuel production, and industrial products.’’

By focusing on sustainable farming methods, we can significantly reduce the collateral damage to wildlife associated with crop production. Practices such as no-till farming, integrated pest management, and the use of cover crops can help mitigate harm to small animals and improve the overall health of the ecosystem. No-till farming, for instance, minimizes soil disruption, thereby preserving the habitats of many small creatures. Integrated pest management reduces reliance on chemical pesticides by using natural predators and other biological controls to manage pest populations. Cover crops protect the soil and provide habitats for various species, fostering biodiversity.

This article looks into the misconception that vegans cause more animal deaths through crop harvesting. It examines the broader impacts of the livestock industry, highlights the ethical and environmental benefits of plant-based diets, and advocates for sustainable agricultural practices to minimize harm to animals.

Approximately 92% of the corn grown in the United States is used for purposes other than direct human consumption. This includes livestock feed, which accounts for about 40% of U.S. corn production, and ethanol production, which consumes around 40% as well. The remaining portion is used for various industrial products and exported, leaving only a small percentage, roughly 8%, for direct human food products like cornmeal, corn syrup, and corn oil. (source: USDA)

The Vegan Ethos: Minimizing Harm

The essence of veganism lies in a conscious effort to minimize harm to animals. This is achieved by abstaining from supporting industries that exploit animals, making choices that avoid direct harm, and seeking ethical alternatives whenever possible. The accusation that vegans are not truly vegan due to the unintended consequences of crop harvesting is a misconception imposed by those unfamiliar with the core principles of veganism.

Understanding the Larger Picture

It's important to recognize that veganism, at its core, significantly reduces the demand for crops compared to non-vegan diets. The mass production of crops to feed billions of farmed animals is a driving force behind extensive crop harvesting. By eliminating the need for this surplus, veganism aims to mitigate the associated animal deaths.

Dispelling Myths: Are Vegans Responsible for More Animal Deaths?

There are prevalent misconceptions suggesting that vegans, in their pursuit of plant-based diets, inadvertently cause more harm to animals than meat eaters. This notion, however, fails to consider the immense scale of the livestock industry and its impact on both animals and the environment.

The livestock industry is responsible for significant animal suffering and death. Annually, billions of animals are bred, confined, and slaughtered for meat, dairy, and eggs. These animals often endure inhumane conditions, including overcrowded spaces, lack of natural light, and painful procedures without anesthesia. The ethical implications of such practices are profound, raising questions about the morality of consuming animal products.

Moreover, the environmental impact of livestock farming is substantial. It is a leading cause of deforestation, habitat destruction, and biodiversity loss. Large-scale farming operations clear vast areas of land, often displacing or killing wildlife in the process. Additionally, livestock farming contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, particularly methane and nitrous oxide, which exacerbate climate change and threaten ecosystems worldwide.

In contrast, plant-based agriculture, while not without its own environmental footprint, generally requires fewer resources and results in less ecological disruption. Crop farming for human consumption typically uses less land and water and produces lower levels of greenhouse gases compared to livestock farming. While the cultivation of crops can lead to the incidental death of small animals, such as rodents and insects, the overall impact is considerably lower than that of animal agriculture.

Furthermore, advancements in sustainable farming practices and technologies are continually reducing the negative impacts of plant-based agriculture. Innovations such as precision farming, integrated pest management, and organic farming practices aim to minimize harm to wildlife and the environment. These methods promote biodiversity, improve soil health, and reduce the need for harmful pesticides and fertilizers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the argument that vegans cause more animal deaths than meat eaters overlooks the broader context of industrial animal agriculture and its far-reaching consequences. The shift towards plant-based diets, supported by sustainable farming practices, offers a viable solution for reducing animal suffering and mitigating environmental damage. It is essential to dispel these myths and acknowledge the ethical and ecological benefits of veganism.

https://michaelcorthelll.substack.com/p/compassionate-living-the-vegan-approach-ebd?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web