Designers are taking the piss

[Iamthewombat]

I was doing a bit of browsing on The Outnet’s clearance section whilst making dinner and for fun decided to find the most hideous garment for sale.

It was a close run thing but the winner was these heinous shoes from Stella McCartney:

www.theoutnet.com/en-gb/shop/product/stella-mccartney/pumps/high-heel-pumps/faux-snake-effect-leather-pumps/24092600057312219

Insult to injury alert: not only are they vile, but they are crafted from ‘vegan leather’. WTF is vegan leather? I looked it up and it is apparently the trendy new name for polyurethane.

She originally wanted £680 for those monstrosities. £680 for plastic shoes! Surely old Stella is taking the piss? Do people actually pay that for hideous plastic shoes?

Vegan 'leather' designed to look like the skin of a dead animal

I teach textile science.

‘Vegan’ leather is plastic of one form of another.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

I teach textile science.

‘Vegan’ leather is plastic of one form of another.

Apart from mycelium, which hopefully should be available in the next year or so.

www-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.cnn.com/style/amp/vegan-leather-alternatives-fungi-biofabric-scn/index.html?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQHKAFQArABIA%3D%3D#aoh=16140980643508&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fstyle%2Farticle%2Fvegan-leather-alternatives-fungi-biofabric-scn%2Findex.html

Why aren't they described as vegan plastic, as that's what they are? Answer: retailers know leather sounds better and higher quality, and they also hope some less careful shoppers won't realise they're buying plastic shoes.

Arf at the vegans tying themselves in knots justifying this bit of retailers' subterfuge. I suspect you wouldn't let them off so easily for non-vegan mislabelling.

@SoupDragon

Vegan leather does exist.

No it doesn't. It is not leather. I am surprised people can't understand that. Leather is a specific thing.

Yes language evolves but that doesn't include calling something by a completely wrong word.

You don’t own the language or the word.

No, but I do know what the correct definition and usage of the word is.

Plastic, cork, pineapples, whatever.... All not leather.

Vegan leather would be leather made from vegans. Which I suspect isn't quite what they were hoping for.

Definitions change. We know what vegan leather means, it’s in common usage (despite what mumsnet sometimes suggests, with all these users who are simply agog/flabbergasted/astonished that such a thing exists).

Not sure what the problem is. It’s literally not causing anyone any harm to describe a pair of shoes made from plants as ‘vegan’.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

I teach textile science.

‘Vegan’ leather is plastic of one form of another.

Apart from the vegan leathers that are made from things like apple and pineapple and cork and so on.

Vegan leather would be leather made from vegans.

Best sentence on this thread

@WrinklesShminkles

Why aren't they described as vegan plastic, as that's what they are? Answer: retailers know leather sounds better and higher quality, and they also hope some less careful shoppers won't realise they're buying plastic shoes.

Arf at the vegans tying themselves in knots justifying this bit of retailers' subterfuge. I suspect you wouldn't let them off so easily for non-vegan mislabelling.

It’s not mislabelling - saying something is vegan is making it very clear that it has no animal products in it. As others have said, not all non-leather shoes are vegan - many have animal based glue for example. Saying something is vegan is labelling it clearly. It’s helpful for vegans to know when something is vegan.

@Iamthewombat

she has done so much to show you don't need to use fur or leather for fashion

Does she need to charge £680 for polyurethane shoes to do so?

You could say that about any brand. Do you really think that leather sourced from cows in India and tanned/dyed by very poor people there is worth any more?

@LongPauseNoAnswer

The irony of vegan leather - it's PLASTIC.

At least with real leather the entire animal is being used for human food, pet food and the skin for clothes etc.

But besides all of that, they're hideous.

Well that's bollocks written by someone who clearly knows nothing about leather production.

The animal welfare, human well-being and environmental impacts are pretty significant. Most leather comes from India and China, and leather shipments may contain multiple animal origin products including cats and dogs.
It's probably one of the impacts that has awful consequences on many levels.

But sure, sneer away

www.animalsaustralia.org/issues/truth-about-leather.php

sancroft.com/2018/05/11/shedding-leather-not-necessarily-a-sustainable-solution/

viva.org.uk/materials/hell-for-leather-fact-sheet/

Vegan leather is just more plastic polluting the oceans where Stella's precious animals live and die. It's much more sustainable to purchase secondhand leather or plastic shoes. And it's much kinder to our eyes to not purchase any of Stella's Stompers

I quite like the ones in the OP

The worst items of clothing I’ve seen are the attached photos - as you can see, I screenshot them for posterity 😂

@Springersrock surely they're a pisstake!

Springersrock Medieval trends coming back during the plague/covid?

[quote BehindMyEyes]I think those shoes would go great with this dress 😂

www.theoutnet.com/en-gb/shop/product/zimmermann/dresses/mini-dress/resistance-bow-detailed-ruched-floral-print-silk-satin-mini-dress/46353151654397386[/quote]
Jesus. That looks like a diarrhoea nappy.

@Springersrock

I quite like the ones in the OP

The worst items of clothing I’ve seen are the attached photos - as you can see, I screenshot them for posterity 😂

Those trainers will come in handy when l audition for Aladdin later this year

If you’re agog that shoes can be made out of things like pineapple - and anything other than animal skin you probably need to get out more.

We know what vegan leather means, it’s in common usage (despite what mumsnet sometimes suggests, with all these users who are simply agog/ flabbergasted/astonished that such a thing exists).

Calm down, dear! I have been out just enough in the past 49 years to realise that shoes are sometimes made of plastic.

What I am curious about is, what shoes made out of pineapples look like and how it can ever be made to look like leather and/or do things that shoes are supposed to do eg keep water out.

Who wouldn’t want to know about that? Are the shoes styled like pineapple rings? Do they feature cocktail sticks and cubes of cheese?

Can you show us a picture of shoes made from pineapples?

As for the Aladdin trainers and the merkin jeans!!!!

Maybe they are like these beauties

@Iamthewombat

If you’re agog that shoes can be made out of things like pineapple - and anything other than animal skin you probably need to get out more.

We know what vegan leather means, it’s in common usage (despite what mumsnet sometimes suggests, with all these users who are simply agog/ flabbergasted/astonished that such a thing exists).

Calm down, dear! I have been out just enough in the past 49 years to realise that shoes are sometimes made of plastic.

What I am curious about is, what shoes made out of pineapples look like and how it can ever be made to look like leather and/or do things that shoes are supposed to do eg keep water out.

Who wouldn’t want to know about that? Are the shoes styled like pineapple rings? Do they feature cocktail sticks and cubes of cheese?

Can you show us a picture of shoes made from pineapples?

If only there were some electronic mechanism that would allow you to search for this information yourself....

There is - it's called Mumsnet

If only there were some electronic mechanism that would allow you to search for this information yourself....

I already did, thanks (as well as Mumsnet!).

I read that the ‘pinatex’ fibre isn’t particularly green because it has a plasticised coating. So it’s not entirely made of pineapples, eh? That is why I asked to see shoes made entirely from pineapples that behave like leather shoes.

That’s a tangent anyway: it doesn’t alter the fact that designers disguising plastic shoes by calling them ‘vegan leather’ are taking the piss.

@MrsHuntGeneNotJeremyObviously

There is - it's called Mumsnet

Nah! That's the electronic mechanism where you ask other people to do the legwork for you

Works for me am lazy

@Iamthewombat

If only there were some electronic mechanism that would allow you to search for this information yourself....

I already did, thanks (as well as Mumsnet!).

I read that the ‘pinatex’ fibre isn’t particularly green because it has a plasticised coating. So it’s not entirely made of pineapples, eh? That is why I asked to see shoes made entirely from pineapples that behave like leather shoes.

That’s a tangent anyway: it doesn’t alter the fact that designers disguising plastic shoes by calling them ‘vegan leather’ are taking the piss.

This seems like a peculiar thing to get so worked up about?

Do you get this irate about peanut butter?
Coconut milk? Paper bag trousers?