For over a decade, the fashion industry has been swept up in a wave of enthusiasm for vegan leather. Promising to divorce style from methane emissions, deforestation, and animal welfare concerns, innovations like mushroom, cactus, and fruit-based alternatives have been touted as the future of sustainable apparel. Yet, despite billions of dollars in capital investment, experts are increasingly sounding the alarm that these “next-gen” materials may be little more than a shiny distraction from the industry’s unchecked growth and reliance on fossil fuels.
“Apple leather, orange leather, pineapple leather, fruit salad leather. It’s like, seriously do we really have to call it leather?” says Dr. Helen Crowley, founder of Nature Matters and a former leader in sustainable sourcing for the luxury conglomerate Kering. She argues that these materials have not acted as true substitutes but have instead been added to existing portfolios, providing new narratives to “sell more stuff.”
The data supports this skepticism. According to Textile Exchange, the production of raw hides for traditional leather—a byproduct of the meat industry—has risen from 10.5 million tonnes in 2005 to 13.8 million tonnes in 2024. Despite intensive marketing campaigns by animal rights groups and the rise of alternatives, the demand for conventional leather continues to climb.
The path for leather alternatives has been fraught with commercial failure. High-profile innovators such as Bolt Threads (Mylo), Ananas Anam (Piñatex), and Natural Fiber Welding (Mirum) have recently ceased production. Even those that have survived, such as MycoWorks, have navigated precarious financial landscapes. The core issue remains a stubborn trifecta of barriers: achieving price parity with mass-produced materials, scaling production beyond limited capsule collections, and solving the reliance on fossil-fuel-derived binders and coatings.
Current alternatives generally fall into four categories: plastic, plant-plastic hybrids, bio-based materials, and lab-grown options. Most accessible “vegan” leathers on the market today are simply plastic—polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). These synthetics shed microplastics, carry a high carbon footprint from fossil fuel extraction, and lack the longevity of natural leather.
More complex plant-based alternatives often resemble a “sandwich” of vegetable fibers and plastic. While they may utilize agricultural waste, the environmental benefit is often negated by the inclusion of significant synthetic binders. Furthermore, these materials typically struggle to replicate the durability and repairability of natural leather. Traditional leather is a complex structure of collagen fibers that can be conditioned, repaired, and restored; when cared for, it develops a patina that extends its lifespan. In contrast, most current alternatives degrade, crack, and flake under tension, ultimately contributing to landfill waste.
The environmental debate is further complicated by how industry impacts are measured. While livestock agriculture is linked to 12–19% of global greenhouse gas emissions, critics argue that current life-cycle assessment tools are often weighted in favor of synthetic materials, ignoring the long-term ecological damage caused by plastic production and disposal.
Dr. Crowley suggests that the conversation needs a fundamental shift. Rather than focusing solely on materials that mitigate harm—or, in the case of plastic, perpetuate it—the industry should prioritize materials that provide positive ecological outcomes.
“We need things that deliver on climate and nature,” Crowley says. She points to the potential of regenerative agriculture as a path forward. By transitioning to leather sourced from farms that focus on soil health, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity, the fashion industry could move toward a model that restores landscapes rather than depleting them. “The current intensive, overproduction of meat and leather is bad,” she acknowledges. “But if you compare it to regenerative farming, it’s a whole different story. Why don’t we replace bad leather with good leather?”
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