Demand for Vegan Cruelty-Free Clothing Rises

Hemp Fabric and other Non-Animal Material Sources Widen the Clothing Market

A hemp fabric dress; photo courtesy Daderot
Going vegan is getting easier, as more companies sprout up with the same belief as vegan practitioners; it is unethical to exploit animals for our benefit.

Today, there are so many better manufacturing methods to make animal-free clothing, shoes and accessories.

There is no reason to inflict cruelty, pain, and in most cases death, on animals.

Even animal products that people think will not harm the animal, such as wool from sheep, or silk from silkworms, cause tortuous pain and death.

Hemp is not Just for Smoking and Rope-Making Anymore

Thankfully, there are cost-effective ways to provide other materials for manufacturing personalized clothing and apparel. Hemp is currently gaining much support as an easy to grow crop, like cotton, that is great for use as a clothing material.

As more people demand cruelty-free clothing and accessories, more apparel industry companies will gear into providing them. This begins with clothing designers, manufacturers, models and advertising, and retailers.

Nobody is advocating for everyone to throw out all the leather, silk, fur and wool products in their closets. That would create more landfill waste, unnecessarily.

However, if people would start now to only purchase items that state they are animal-free and cruelty-free, eventually that is all that will be produced. Wonderful materials, including imitation fur, are available everywhere nowadays.

The Herbivore Clothing Company

The Herbivore Clothing Company, located in Portland, Oregon, sells men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, shoes, and accessories, that are completely organic, animal-free, vegan products.

They also have a great website at www.herbivoreclothing.com. Some of their basic t-shirts are made from American Apparel, a Los Angeles company which is also highly conscious of earth-friendly concepts.

American Apparel also practices immigration rights, paying overseas workers well, ecology-mindfulness, as well as not using any animal products.

Panda Snack

Another online store, located in Boston, is Panda Snack. They specialize in bamboo knits and are quite stylish. You can find them at www.pandasnack.com. Additionally, many other “green”, cruelty-free clothing stores are listed online at Greenpeople.org.

Vegan, animal-lover clothing is still new to the scene; standards have not been set that determine what exactly a vegan tag requires. Although some clothing tags state themselves to be animal-free, there may be animal by-products used in the manufacturing process.

It is hard to get one hundred percent away from all animal ingredients. The idea is to start now, as well as we can, to read about and implement eco-friendly and animal-friendly living. Going vegan greatly reduces our carbon footprint. This is the wave of our future!