When looking for a leather alternative you might find yourself coming across pleather, faux leather, or vegan leather… what does this all mean? Are they different? Are they the same? We asked the same questions and did some digging.
Here’s the breakdown: The main difference is terminology.
Technically vegan leather is considered faux leather.
Vegan leather, as one would assume from the word “vegan”, doesn’t have any animal products or by-products in its material. It is known for its pliability and breathability. Early artificial leather products were primarily designed for upholstery, and did not have these qualities. Some even included the use of animal leather powder with binders, thus they were non-vegan.
If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of what kinds of faux (“vegan”) leathers there are, here’s the list:
• Vegetan – a microfiber material specially designed to be an animal-friendly leather substitute
• Lorica – a kind of artificial leather that is made from microfibers soaked in special resins that give it a micro-porous structure like collagen in natural skin. It is patented and manufactured by Lorica Sud, an Italian company. It is known for it’s softness, durability, and breathability.
• Birko-Flor – an artificial leather that is made from acrylic and polyamide felt fibers that imitate patent leather. Birkibuc is the same type, but feels like nubuck leather. They are what Birkenstock uses.
• Kydex – an artificial leather made from an acrylic-PVC alloy. It’s produced by Kleerdex.
• Polyvinyl Chloride (a.k.a PVC) – imitation leather that is produced by replacing the hydrogen group with a chloride group in the vinyl groups. PVC resin is mixed with non-woven fabrics to produce PU leather, or synthetic leather
• Polyurethane (a.k.a PU) – a manufactured artificial leather that is more resilient, flexible, and durable than PVC leather. It is also less harmful to the environment than PVC.
• Ocean Leather – an artificial leather made from kelp or seaweed. 
The most common form of artificial leather is produced from synthetic materials found in petroleum. There is an array of plastics and synthetics used to produce various types of artificial leather, the most common being PVC. If you are concerned about the environment, you might want to stay away from that variety. We hope this helped break it down for you. Vegan leather IS faux leather, pleather, pleather, what have you.
*Fun Fact: Stella McCartney has used vegan leather for a decade now in her own vegan line because the material is best suited for various designs.
Check out our fav vegan (*faux) leather finds below.
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HAPPY SHOPPING!
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