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This doesn’t surprise Elizabeth von der Goltz, the Global Buying Director at Net-A-Porter. Searches for the words “faux” and “vegan” have nearly doubled on the site in recent months, and according to von der Goltz, customers are willing to pay just as much for a designer faux leather handbag as they are for bags made of real leather. “We have not seen customers deter from purchasing high-quality vegan or faux leather handbags due to price,” she says.
“There are many long-standing brands that are embracing the trend and slowly moving into a more sustainable approach. This is not a trend that will be leaving anytime soon.”
But for some people, there is no substitution for the real thing, no matter the cost. To be sure, real leather handbags are still selling well, especially those on the higher end. In fact, there aren’t enough quality hides available to make all the luxury handbags in demand. This is because the hides used to make a five-figure Hermés Birkin bag, for example, aren’t the same hides used to make $400 or even $700 leather bags. Hermés uses hides from calves who were raised entirely indoors, thus avoiding risk of injury or even mosquito bites. As Don Ohsman, publisher of Hidenet, told Bloomberg earlier this year, “a calf is raised in a pen and never goes outside, so its skin is blemish-free.”
If the thought of a baby cow never feeling a breeze on her nose saddens you, but the pull of a designer name is too strong to avoid, you’re probably already a fan of Stella McCartney. The inescapably popular Falabella line, which can retail for over $1,300 depending on the style, is a staple among the fashion-conscious. “[She] was a pioneer in this movement, and proved a fully vegan line could be luxurious, sought-after and successful,” says von der Goltz. It’s true, no one has done more to educate the public — and perhaps more importantly, other designers and their companies — about the need and demand for more sustainable, earth-friendly luxury fashion than McCartney. And it’s paying off. Not only are sales on the rise for the brand, but just last week, McCartney launched a new nonprofit, Stella McCartney Cares Green, which will educate and fund NGOS focused on environmental causes and sustainability.
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