When it comes to fashion, think vegan!
Amarjot Kaur
When Yorkshire-based teacher Donald Watson coined the word vegan and co-founded Vegan Society in 1944, would he have imagined his little movement growing into a full-fledged lifestyle? While London prepares to host its first vegan and cruelty-free fashion show, big brands like Hugo Boss have ditched fur, joining the vegan league. Closer at home, future looks rosy for this millennial phenomenon.
Data from Market Research Future predicts cruelty-free cosmetics market in India to rise 6 per cent between 2017 and 2023, identifying it as one of the top exports for the country. Panchkula-based fashion designer Shruti Rao Rathore claims to be India’s first to advocate vegan fashion. Hailing it as a revolution of sorts, she says, “All clothing brands have vegan options; all you need to do is avoid leather, real fur, wool and silk.”
A feisty vegan fashion and lifestyle advocate, Rao shares, “My goal is to revamp the face of fashion industry and create a space for ethical, sustainable and mindful fashion.”
We ask, she responds:
What makes vegan fashion sustainable?
Consumers now know that cheap fashion is actually the costliest. Fashion can be sustainable and ethical only if it is vegan. Animals are the source of almost 90 per cent pollutants. The production of leather, wool, fur and cashmere is cruel for animals and is a serious health hazard for people involved in their production.
Could you suggest vegan alternatives for leather?
There are so many vegan alternatives for leather. Pineapple leather, leather made from cork, Kombucha tea, mushrooms, fruit waste and surprising materials like soy! Substitute for wool can be anything from seaweed, linen (Abercrombie makes linen cardigans) and organic cotton to lyocell fabric (made of wood pulp and is biodegradable) and beech tree fibre.
How has a vegan lifestyle helped you?
My health and skin have improved. I have become fitter and more energetic.
Shop vegan clothes, look for
- Diamond-sign for faux leather/synthetic leather
- Diamond with a C-shaped cut on both sides for genuine leather/cows skin
- Leaping bunny sign for cruelty-free cosmetics
- PETA-approved sign by PETA
Ethical choice
Rao says, “We are just replacing it with an eco-friendly alternative and people have the right to choose. Leather is a co-product of the meat industry but animals are mostly killed illegally for fashion in India,” she says.
amarjot@tribunemail.com
