From Vogue to Vegan: U.S. Designer Ditches Leather

It was recently announced that John Bartlett — named U.S. Designer of the Year by the American Apparel and Footwear Association — has gone vegan. Bartlett, who stopped using "fur as fabric" back in 2000, has now not only changed his personal style, but will also discontinue the use of leather in his future collections.

Partly swayed by recently reading Alicia Silverstone’s book The Kind Diet, John began to come to terms with the impact of meat eating on himself, the animals who are being “factory farmed,” and on the environment. On his own blog, Bartlett remarks "True success comes with maturity and appreciation for what one has in their lives. It comes with a sense of how our values shape our lives and how one lives each and every day." So, when a designer goes vegan, you can rest assured that it influences how he thinks about his profession.

Many people regard wearing fur and leather quite differently their food choices. The age-old argument that "it's a byproduct of the meat industry, so why waste it?" seems to give the people the excuse not to stop and think too much about what that really means.  As a vegetarian (who is working to one day be vegan), an animal lover and a designer, I am wracked with guilt on a daily basis due to working closely with leather. Could I refuse to work with it? Maybe. Could I ask clients and colleagues nicely to think about not using it? Possibly. But it's far more widely accepted in the industry, especially when most shoes we wear are still made from the same so-called "fabric."

Where, and more importantly how, leather goes from an animal to the forefront of fashion was featured in the BBC Three series Blood, Sweat and Luxuries, a five part series documenting a behind-the-scenes look into some of the world's most luxurious goods. In one episode, six young consumers head off to Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. Put to work in the abattoirs, tanneries and leather factories, alongside thousands of locals who rely on the leather industry to survive, they soon learn the extent of what's sacrificed by the workers and the animals to provide this "luxury."

While leather is still a mainstream material, a lot of consumers are avoiding fur. Except, horrifyingly, in New York fashion shows of late, where fur is making a huge comeback. Two-thirds of designers at NYC's Byrant Park showed fur at the Autumn/Winter 2010 runways. It seems that, in the current climate, with retail sales on the decline, the furriers are buddying-up to the designers to once again push for fur.

Bartlett himself has been noticing this and, during an interview with Tim Groen, says the furriers are "making all their samples, supporting shows, and creating demand, so a lot of stores are asking for it. And because it’s making money, a lot of designers feel pressured to offer it — even those who aren’t sure they feel good about it". He goes on to mention "in 2000, I did one season where I worked with rabbit fur, and afterwards I felt so disgusted. I had felt pressured to use it. It just wasn’t me, so I stopped it right then. A lot of my colleagues are pro-fur, and I’m trying to figure out a way that I impact the pro-fur phenomenon. I’m talking to a lot of designers, editors, fashion directors, asking them, 'This is what’s going on. Are you aware?' And if they are, well, at least I tried to point it out. One of the designers I spoke to said, 'But the animals are humanely gassed.' All I could think was: Humanely gassed? Doesn’t that argument sound a little Hitler to you?"

I am very glad someone as high profile in the fashion industry as Bartlett has taken this stance, and I hope that more designers bearing their own collections will eventually follow suit.  You can bet when it's my own name woven into a clothing label, I won't be using animal products either.

Photo Credit: jonstraveladventures