Faux frustration and lifetime leather

Leather has been a part of my life specifically for over a decade. My mother owns a small business doing custom leather work, and I’ve advised on projects and assisted in painting, dying, and general color matching for as long as it’s been around. I’m very familiar with the texture, the processes of wet molding, the sound it makes as it’s cut, the pressure that must be applied to emboss a design, the volume of the hammer, and the upkeep of a finished product.

I’ve never been particularly phased by death. Leather is as commonplace in my household as bones, and none of my family is vegan or vegetarian. In fact, as a child, we had a pet snake who we fed live mice once she was old enough. I’m no stranger to empathy- I cry almost immediately when I see an actor cry in a movie- but I am aware that many people approach the animal product industry with much different eyes.

All of this to say, I like leather, I know leather, and I am not a person who feels morally opposed to it. I am, however, morally opposed to “vegan leather”.

What is faux leather?

When I was younger, I exclusively heard it referred to as pleather or fake leather, showing immediately the plastic nature of the item. But terms like synthetic leather, faux leather, and vegan leather dominate the market at the moment because they play to people’s animal loving tendencies, and conceal the unfortunate truth. Faux leather is created one of three ways. Synthetic leather is made using three different layers of plastics and one of fabric. The majority of plant-based leathers still have some sort of synthetic coating, and lab-grown leather is incredibly expensive and not at all accessible to the average consumer.

Faux leather can last up to five years with proper care. Unfortunately, when that time frame comes to an end, many faux leather items simply shed, tear, flake, and become entirely unusable. Faux leather can also shrink in the heat, and become unwearable. And the worst part is that they do not decompose well, leading to large amounts of useless items that persist on past their useful life.

But what makes real leather so good anyway?

I can attest with certainty that real leather does not shed, tear, flake, or anything of the sort. Badly cracked leather that has not been cared for well can often still be saved using lubricant. And in the case that it cannot, the leather can be trimmed and repurposed, or completely discarded. As a natural product, it will decompose. 

The most common argument against real leather that I see is that consumers don’t want to be responsible for the death of an animal. Luckily, this misconception is easily disproven. 99% of the leather used comes directly from animals who had been killed for their meat, making their hide a byproduct of the industry that would have been wasted without leather workers. Of course, it would decompose well had it been thrown out regardless, but transforming byproducts of another industry into pieces that are useful for decades cannot be a bad thing in my eyes.

The only other complaint towards real leather involves tanning. The tanning process as well as the preparation can use a lot of water, and tanning can use chemicals that negatively impact the soil. However, there are just as many techniques that use natural methods. The Leather Naturally Organization shows what 6 countries have committed to as far as tanning regulations and promises towards environmental sustainability.

Leather products can be used by generations of the same people, and if not, then they can be donated or sold secondhand incredibly easily. Fake leather items are often already peeling and shedding by the time they end up in thrift stores, and do not provide additional usable life.

Conclusions

Personally, I think the changing of pleather to vegan leather, even just in popular culture, is a stark example of greenwashing. Vegan leather is meant to sound as though it is better for the animals, better for the environment, better for the planet. But 5 year replaceable items made from plastic are by no means environmentally sustainable. They do not prevent the deaths of any animals, as leather is a byproduct of the meat industry rather than having been an industry on its own. And that level of willful misrepresentation leaves me with a sour feeling, even beyond the concealment of the environmental impact.

Sources

Carmelina, G., Elisa, R., & Laura, T. (2021). «faux leather»: what are we talking about? a sustainability project, 11(3ns), 65–72. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2240-3604/13420

F, F. (2023, March 19). How long does faux leather last? (it depends…find out why). PLANT PUREE. https://plantpuree.com/vegan-fashion-and-vegan-beauty/vegan-leather/is-faux-leather-durable/

Harris, S., & Veldmeijer, A. J. (Eds.). (2014). Why leather? : the material and cultural dimensions of leather. Sidestone Press. Retrieved October 11, 2023, from https://web-p-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.hofstra.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=0a26ef96-6773-4c99-8e9e-cbcf8491dbf3%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=910883&db=nlebk.

Images from Lynn Fernandez at Now Brace Yourself

Kim, H., Kim, J., Oh, K. W., & Jung, H. J. (2016). Adoption of eco-friendly faux leather. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 34(4), 239–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302×16656439

Nick. (2023, April 6). Are animals killed for leather?. Leather Naturally. https://www.leathernaturally.org/news-events/news/are-animals-killed-for-leather/