Vegan Leather: Earths Friend or Foe? Clothes wreak havoc on the environment. Millions of tons of old clothing are sent to landfills or incinerators each year as Americans try to keep up with the latest trends. The clothes that replace whats been disposed of are manufactured by polluting the air and water with chemicals. These chemicals poison our food chain and are responsible for 10% of humanitys greenhouse gases.86 Todays fashion consumers are savvier than ever and have taken notice of this danger. According to Forbes, professional women pay attention to more than just the quality of their garments; they are focusing on the entire production process and product afterlife.87 A Nielsen study found that 73% of Millennials are willing to pay more for sustainable clothing brands. This demand has led to a new market of fashion brands that are fully sustainable.88 In fact, if you Google sustainable fashion, youll get over 280 million results as businesses are stepping up to address sustainability issues in the fashion industry.89 A NEW TYPE OF LEATHER Significant criticism of the fashion industrys sustainability practices focuses on leather. Leather is made from animal skins that are tanned and converted to wearable form. Most tanning substances are made from chromium salts, which can be toxic when tanneries use them in the leather-making process. As a result, tanning agents are hazardous compounds that are difficult to recycle or reuse, and pose a challenge for waste collection. The amount of tannery toxic byproducts is staggering. Take India, for example, home to the most tanneries. The Indian city of Kanpur produces up to 40 million liters (more than 10 million gallons) of tannery wastewater each day.90 This water is dumped into local farmlands, killing vegetation and entering the citys drinking water. As a result, local residents are developing skin conditions, tuberculosis, blindness, gastrointestinal issues, and having children born with severe mental and physical disabilities.91 Page 70 Criticism of the leather industry isnt only tied to environmental concerns. There are also serious animal rights issues associated with the leather-making process. Leather comes from industrial farms, many of which raise animals in crammed quarters with no natural light. And since they are in such close contact, many of the animals have their teeth, horns, and tails removed.92 Vegan, also known as faux or synthetic, leather was developed to address these concerns with the traditional leather-making process. Most vegan leather is made from plastic-based materials, without using animal byproducts. It can be used as an alternative to traditional leather for handbags, belts, wallets, jackets, shoes, and anything else youd typically use leather for.93 Vegan leather is becoming increasingly popular in the United States, not only because of environmental concerns, but also because it is generally less expensive and easier to maintain than traditional leather. The online availability of vegan leather products actually rose 54% from 2018 to 2019. There is also increased demand from the auto industry as more and more carmakers use artificial leather for car interiors. Bloomberg Businessweek reports that global demand for vegan leather may grow at a rate of 7%, reaching $45 billion by 2025.94 A PIONEER FACES CRITICISM The vegan leather market may be growing today, but one of its pioneers has been developing these types of products since 2001. Stella McCartney, daughter of Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney, operates 51 vegan leather stores in locations such as New York, London, Hollywood, Paris, Milan, and Tokyo. McCartneys collections are also distributed by partner specialty shops and department stores in 77 countries. Moreover, she ships to 100 countries through her online marketplace.95 McCartneys business may be growing, but vegan leather is coming under increased scrutiny. The plastics used to create this type of leather, polyurethane and polyvinyl chloride, pose serious environmental threats because they are manufactured from fossil fuels, such as petroleum. Petroleum is toxic, terrible for the Earth, and fuels climate change, according to Coveteur.96 And Greenpeace actually labels polyvinyl chloride as the single most environmentally damaging type of plastic.97 As a result of this criticism, McCartney herself has admitted that the plastics used in her products are not without concern.98 The harmful effects of vegan leather dont end at the production process. Plastic leather has a shorter lifespan than traditional leather, meaning consumers dispose of their vegan leather belts, shoes, and other clothing more quickly than long-lasting hand-me-down leather products. Furthermore, when trashed, vegan leather may take hundreds of years to decompose in water, if it even does at all.99 Traditional leather, on the other hand, is biodegradable. Patrick Grant, creative director of Norton & Sons tailors and a materials expert, says designers like McCartney are causing microplastics to enter our waterways. Eighteen years ago, she had been telling people to switch from leather to polyurethane and now the fish have it inside them, he says.100 REAL LEATHER CAN BE SUSTAINABLE, TOO McCartneys product line isnt just facing skepticism from environmental activists, it is also dealing with eco-friendly changes to the traditional leather-making process. Rachel Garwood, a creative leather technology expert, says that genuine leather is more environmentally friendly due to modern tanning methods. For example, more and more tanneries are using vegetable tanning, which is far less harmful than traditional methods. Chemical companies and tanners are working closely with brands to offer reassurance of the clean technology and ethics in leather manufacturing, says Garwood.101 Other leather companies are using laboratories to go green. Modern Meadow, for example, touts itself as a biofabrication company, saying biofabrication is a way of building fabric with cells, DNA, and protein.102 Modern Meadows lab-grown leather comes from collagen, the protein that makes animal and human skin. Their products look, feel, and wear much more like leather, and since they are made from collagen, may arguably be genuine. Moreover, biofabrication alleviates some leather production and decomposition concerns.103 McCartney continues to innovate in order to stay ahead of not just the leather controversy, but also concerns about other fabrics. During her Spring/Summer 2020 fashion show in Paris, she debuted the worlds first fur-free fur. The innovative material uses plant-based fibers and recycled polyester, not plastic. McCartney claims it uses 30% less energy and 63% less greenhouse gases than competing plastic brands. Fur-free fur can also be recycled at the end of its life, so it wont end up in a landfill.104 Will environmentalists be satisfied.

2. What key lessons from this chapter could McCartney use to improve how her products are perceived by the market? Explain