Of course, I am always asked at my public appearances whether my shoes are free of animal ingredients, i.e. not made of leather. Yes, I’ve not only been eating vegan for 10 years, but I also live vegan and that includes wearing shoes made of artificial leather, cork and Piñatex – a leather-like material made from the long fibers of pineapple leaves.
However, I didn’t throw away my old leather shoes back then, but wore them to the bitter end before replacing them with sustainably produced, vegan shoes. We have already reported on these procedures several times here on the blog:
Making Leather and Meat Better
I now have a nice collection of vegan shoes that cover all four seasons here in Switzerland. Everything from Brave Gentleman to Stella McCartney and No Animal Brand can be found in my shoe box. I personally always find inspiring names like Good guys don’t wear leather or Cri de Coeur (cry of the heart) or Beyond Skin super fitting and motivate me to continue on this path because these labels always produce innovative and cool shoes. I can tell you from experience that vegan shoes last much longer because they are always waterproof and stay in good shape even in a hard winter with snow and salt on the roads.
Shoe brands above from left to right: Ahimsa Shoes, Cri de Coeur. Below, from left to right, Noah and Stella McCartney.
Here in the picture: Weiss Secondhand Stoff Stilettos, Ahimsa Shoes, Sydney Brown, Esprit, Olsen Haus, Ahimsa Shoes, Good guys don’t wear leather.
Gold stilettos by Beyondskin.