If you’re a vegetarian or a vegan, you probably know by now that finding well-made, comfortable and fashionable shoes that are also 100% leather free can be a right pain.
In fact, most vegetarians I know actually wear leather shoes and it’s only vegans who go all the way and avoid animal-based shoes. I’m pretty sure the main reason behind that is that it’s so hard to find decent shoes that aren’t made of leather. Synthetic shoes are often cheap-looking and badly made and the vegan-specific brands mostly started out by producing shoes fit for organic farmers living in caves, rather than urban fashionistas.
Back when I became a vegetarian, nearly 20 years ago, vegetarianism was still pretty much in its infancy in my country. Nut Cutlets, flaourless soy burgers and “everything but the meat” was my lot.
But while vegetarian food has now become pretty much mainstream and veggie options varied and actually tasty, leather-free footwear remained stuck in the nut cultet days for many years. Nowadays, you can find good vegan shoes if you’re willing to spend some time looking. You’ll never enjoy quite the same range as leather-wearing shoe addicts, but you can actually get by without standing out for the wrong reasons.
As a vegetarian who happens to be addicted to (vegan) shoes, I spend a lot of time hunting down vegan shoes in the usual and unusual places. I’ve set up this blog to help other vegetarians and vegans like me who want to live cruelty-free, without sacrificing their sense of style.
Your perfect shoes are out there. You just need to know where to look!