Vegan leather, an oxymoron, is the ethical and cruelty-free alternative to traditional leather. It's known by different names—artificial leather, synthetic leather, faux leather. But in essence, it is meant to look and feel like traditional leather without any of its ethical concerns. Given the leather and tanning industry is one of the most polluting ones in the world, the vegan version is also a relatively more sustainable choice. The faux alternatives are made from a wide range of materials: cannabis, cork fabric and even waste flowers from temples. With a spike in demand for sustainable fashion, the Indian vegan leather market now has a number of brands ready with options.
Here are 15 Indian vegan leather brands for you to try
PAIO
PAIO is a Mumbai-based, PETA-certified vegan shoe brand that makes stunning, comfortable shoes for those seeking cruelty-free items. Its products are entirely handcrafted and also can be customised to size. It was founded in 2016 by Shweta Nimkar, who has been experimenting with fabrics, plant-based leather, mushroom leather and other kinds of vegan leather. PAIO has a diverse range of shoes for every occasion. The label has also worked in collaboration with a few design houses such as Payal Singhal and JADE by Monica & Karishma. Website
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Aulive
The vegan label based in the outskirts of Delhi makes smart, fashionable and high-quality products that have low environmental impact. Its alternatives to real leather come from pineapple leaf fibre and pleather—a plastic fabric made to look like leather—from Italy. Aulive's Pina collection made from pineapple leaf fibers is completely compostable, but its other kinds are recyclable. It manufactures everything from messenger bags, trunks and backpacks to purses in a range of colours. Website
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Broke Mate
Cruelty-free, made-in-India, female-founded. Three very attractive reasons to go for Broke Mate's range of vegan bags that fuse fashion with practicality. It's a PETA-approved vegan certified company that's passionately committed towards using cruelty-free materials targeted at conscious customers. Website
