Whether you love it or hate it, vegan leather is absolutely everywhere this season and it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon heading into the winter. I mean, I’m not mad about it… vegan leather is sick! I love it. And I love it on pieces I never thought I would… crop tops, blazers, wide leg pants, hair pieces, you name it. The more new products I see, the more I fall in love with the fabric. 

Different from the very popular rawhide leather in the 90s, vegan leather is now the new must-have. Textile artists have found a way to create a beautiful fabric that looks and feels like real leather, but does not involve the tanning or hurting of animals in the process – WIN-WIN! As an animal lover, this puts a great big smile on my face! 

Now the problem people have isn’t really with the fabric itself, but instead how to style the fabric. Since vegan leather can be a challenging material for some, I decided to show y’all how I style my vegan leather. 

First things first, you have to STOP looking at vegan leather only as edgy, hardcore, and Sons of Anarchy biker-gang attire. Although it absolutely can give off this vibe, it can also be used in soft, feminine, classic, or casual looks. I usually like to add vegan leather to an outfit if I’m looking for some contrast. For example, take a soft white button down shirt – if you pair it with jeans it becomes casual, if you pair it with vegan leather leggings it becomes chic. The same goes for a linen dress – add some vegan leather Dr Martens and your look has transformed from dressy to sleek.

Next, don’t be scared to take a risk and pair vegan leather with none other than vegan leather. I’m sure Sandra Dee from Grease popped in your head, didn’t she? Don’t worry! You need the red lip and heel to really bring that one together. The key with repping leather on leather is separation. You can create that separation in the outfit by adding a coloured turtleneck, tank, or t-shirt to break up the material. You can totally mix and match different colours of vegan leather too which helps to break up that black-on-black action. It may not be your everyday look but it’s hella cool and hella vibes. 

The great thing about vegan leather is just how versatile it really is. You can totally rock them to work, running errands, out for dinner, at a party, or just hanging around the house, (which is all anyone is doing these days, but a girl can dream okay?)  It’s not the vegan leather that determines the vibe of the entire outfit, it is everything else you pair with it. Your vegan leather trousers you wore to work can be converted to a dinner-with-friends-look by swapping out the button-up blouse for a neutral-coloured turtleneck and a long trench coat, which can be swapped to your running-errands-look by losing the trench coat, adding a crewneck sweater, and throwing on some white sneakers. You must know by now that I’m a biiiiig fan of versatility!

In sum, I really do love this vegan leather trend we are currently on. It perhaps is one of the few good things that 2020 has brought us!! 🙃  Happy vegan leather shopping, friends! 

Until next hump day…

Peace & love!

TL