With vegan fashion flourishing, we are seeing an explosion of new exciting brands for vegan heels. Modern shoe designers like Bebe Mehr, Stella McCartney, Elizabeth Olsen, and Ivana Basilotta take to the runways with sustainable vegan stilettos that say adieu to leather for good.
Vegan Heels
Why Choose Vegan Heels
Vegan heels are heels made from synthetic and plant-based materials. Vegan heels come in all shapes and sizes – be it mules, stilettos, or sandals – with one common denominator: they are free of animal leather, suede, fur, and animal-based adhesives.
More people choose vegan heels because it’s an ethical and eco-friendly choice. In 2022, leather is not just a byproduct of meat, it is a lucrative luxury industry where millions of baby cows animals are slaughtered just for their skins alone.
The leather tanning industry also involves tons of hazardous chemicals which makes leather hardly a natural material. Leather tanning also takes place in countries where the environmental regulations are not strict enough to make sure those chemicals do not pollute lakes and rivers.
New Era Of Luxury
Vegan heels are more important than any other shoe type for heels surpass the practical function of shoes. Heels are a symbol of luxury.
Stella McCartney was one the first luxury designers to launch a fully vegan clothing line. As a vegetarian, McCarteny never used leather, feathers, skin or fur in any of her designs. She is an important innovator for the whole vegan footwear movement, and has shown luxury can be compassionate.
Repurposing Food Waste
In addition to traditional synthetic leather, vegan heels today are made from a variety of natural materials, including biowaste. Apple peel leather, cactus leather, and grape leather are just some of the sustainable vegan materials that the heel industry uses.
According to Hainla, the beauty of apple leather is that is wears similar to leather. It is soft and flexible to make a comfortable upper to vegan heels. This is also why many vegan shoe brands opt for apple peels Veerah.
A Growing Industry
Vegan footwear industry is growing at a staggering rate. Reports estimate the market to grow at almost 7% CAGR. Millenial women are the largest growing segment for vegan shoes. In 2018 alone, the vegan footwear market in the U.K grew by 16%.