Topshop debuts vegan shoe collection as sustainability drives fashion purchases

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 12, 2019

It's not so many years ago that shoes made of fake leather were seen as second-best, the kind of products shoppers would buy only because they were on a budget. But Stella McCartney's entry into the footwear sector helped to change that and ‘plastic’ shoes are now part of the vegan revolution that's heavily impacting the fashion sector.

The latest big-name entry into the market comes from Topshop, which has just unveiled its first ever vegan shoe collection. It's a 12-piece offer for the summer season, comprising six separate sandal styles, each of them available in two different colours.

And they're 100% vegan-friendly with the main materials being non-animal, as well as non-fish glue having been used in their construction. The packaging will continue the theme as well with all of the shoeboxes created using vegan materials.

The collection has been made alongside the retailer’s premium shoe line in Spain, with prices ranging from £42 up to £59. And it has received People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) approval.

It looks like this could be the first of a number of initiatives from the company which said that it will make further moves in the vegan fashion sector, particularly in accessories.

That's an approach for the fast fashion retailer that makes good commercial sense as more and more consumers, especially those in younger age groups, are embracing vegan lifestyles. Even consumers who aren't strictly speaking vegan, or even vegetarian, are increasingly thinking ‘flexitarian’ and integrating various vegan aspects into their own daily lives for health, ethical or sustainability reasons.

The sustainability element is particularly important as a recent Pulse of the Fashion Industry report claimed that leather was the most polluting material in fashion, with double the impact of polyurethane (PU) leather.