Now, more than ever, we’re aware of the impact our fashion choices have on the planet. (See the January edition of THE GLOSS, out today with the Irish Times, which  poses the question: how can we make the things we love less wasteful, but still wonderful?) There are those who have long championed this mindset: over one million bags later, designer Stella McCartney’s Falabella bag is proof of how desirable vegan products can be. Since it launched in 2009, its impact would have been the equivalent of 400,000 cow hides had it been made from leather.

There’s lots of innovation to excite, too. In early 2021, H&M announced Innovation Stories, a series of mini-collections that “push experimentation to the next level”. The collection championed a bio-based yarn derived from caster-oil seeds and — most prominently — Desserto, a plant-based, vegan alternative to leather made from cactus plants. Scroll for our edit of favourite vegan fashion labels below. 

Main image: Nanushka spring summer 22.

Championed by Net-a-Porter’s NET SUSTAIN scheme, Dutch brand Caes is a tribute to slow fashion. In place of leather Caes uses Vegea, a vegan-leather coated alternative to the real thing. For this season, the brand’s curved sleeve leather-look top is an instant classic. 

Budapest-based fashion label Nanushka has mastered the elusive combination of sustainability and desirability. (The brand’s vegan leather trousers instantly became cult classics.) Designer Sandra Sandor works from the ethos that a garment that’s designed with function in mind will, by definition, be a beautiful one.

The name Stella McCartney has long been associated with all things vegan and earth-friendly but that doesn’t mean the designer is resting on her laurels. The designer has been vocal about searching for alternatives to the alter nappa leather she became famous for as it contains polyurethane (plastic). In 2021, McCartney launched a capsule clothing collection that uses Mylo; a non-leather grown from mycelium, the vegetative part of a fungus. Natural, biodegradable and with a small carbon footprint, it’s been hailed as the blueprint for a greener fashion future. 

Sustainable luggage brand Paravel was co-founded by former creative director of Moda Operandi Indré Rockefeller (who also did a stint at luxury Spanish fashion house Delpozo) – in other words, it’s got fashion kudos. Suitcases and travel totes are fashioned from vegan leather and recycled polycarbonate – all with the style pack’s seal of approval. Get it at Net-a-Porter.