Fashion Designers Are Using New Vegan Leathers From Mushrooms, Apples

A hundred years ago, when Harley Davidson released the world’s first leather motorcycle jacket, they never imagined it would become the perennial uniform of the American rebel: the rugged individualist, tough, fierce, Brando-esque.

Leather “motos” have grown iconic since the ‘50s — with a little help from Elvis, The Ramones and Michael Jackson — particularly in L.A., where biker chic is in the dress code DNA. But as cool as they look, with every jacket (not to mention pants and handbags) being made from the hides of cows, lambs, pigs, sheep, crocodiles, emus, deer, rabbits, even horses, well, it’s not a pretty picture.

“The leather industry tries to pretend leather is a by-product of the meat industry,” says Ashley Byrne, president of PETA. “But it’s a co-product: They keep each other in business. Both their environmental tolls reap water pollution, greenhouse gases and toxic chemicals from tanning hides.” Byrne notes that the much more eco-friendly use of faux, or vegan, leather has coincided with the rise of faux fur. Stella McCartney, whose namesake brand launched in 2001, was the first to use leather constructed from plants only, zero animals. Cacti, fungi or mushrooms, grape skins, corn, apples, mango waste and pineapple leaves, which make a textile called piñatex, have all been used to create vegan leather, and new formulations come out constantly.

With LVMH, the conglomerate behind Louis Vuitton, Dior and Givenchy and a partner of McCartney’s, the designer helped propel a $200 million fund set aside for climate solutions, spurring a spate of alternative plant fabric research. For winter 2009, she debuted the recycled plastic Falabella bag, embraced by Kate Moss, Beyoncé and Rihanna — the first vegan “It” bag. In summer 2022, she dropped: the Frayme Mylo bag, made out of mycelium, a fungi-based alternative. This summer’s new iteration is the Hydefy Ryder, billed as “the world’s first luxury bag derived from fungal micro-organisms.” Think about it: your bag and your meal derived from similar plants.

Over the past 15 years, sustainable tech breakthroughs have helped forge vegan plant leather into fast fashion (Old Navy, Tom’s, Target, ASOS, ALDO, Zara, H&M) to mid- to high-priced fashion brands like Alice + Olivia, ALC, Jonathan Simkhai and The Frankie Shop. There are full lines of vegan leather accessories, like New York’s chic Carter Wade handbags, and ethically driven designer Collina Strada collaborated with Ugg on its first line of vegan Uggs.

Now let’s compare prices. A fashion-forward leather Loewe jacket costs $5,900. The pliably soft Rick Owens biker jacket runs $1,500 to $2,500. But the Denny vegan leather blazer by Alice + Olivia? $495. Can anyone tell the difference? Does it matter? The Gap is sporting vegan leather jeans and skirts between $20 and $60; Levi’s, slightly more.

Vegan leather has made it on the red carpet, too, though you probably couldn’t tell. Emmanuelle Rienda, a longtime L.A.-based ethical fashion activist, says she was hired to style Olivia Rodrigo, “because she’s so plant based.” She also works with such like-minded artists as Jenna Ortega, Natalie Portman and Lizzo.

On the Sunset Strip, co-founder Aleksandar Tomovic created an all-sustainable fashion showroom, Maison Privee, in 2017, with a “Green Room” stocked with all vegan snack options sought out by Rooney Mara, Elliot Page and Sadie Sink. “Ten years ago,” says Tomovic, “vegan leather meant plastic, it meant petrol. Now there are more positive, more sustainable and creative options. Billie Eilish’s stylist always comes here for clothes, bags and shoes. Vegan shoes are still harder to find, they haven’t quite perfected them yet.”

Eilish is fashion’s most outspoken vegan, pushing big brands into the leather alternative movement. She partnered with Gucci in 2023 to release its first vegan leather bag, composed of wheat, corn, wood pulp and viscose. “Market research says Gen Z and Millennials see shopping as a reflection of their values,” notes PETA’s Byrne. But how many Eilish-and-ethical fans can afford a $3,500 Gucci handbag? She still gets an A for effort.

Rienda’s 6-year-old Vegan Fashion Week started as an ethical luxury conference. Now every year, she curates innovative plant-based designs from around the globe. “I wanted to make ethical fashion fun, with beautiful storytelling,” says Rienda. “It’s not only about animals. There are three pillars of this movement: humans, animals and the planet. I’ve even started conversations with LVMH and Kering,” owner of Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga labels. “Hermès is now experimenting with mushroom-based leathers.”

For this Earth Day, Ferragamo, one of Italy’s oldest and most prestigious leather-based brands, is releasing a “Back to Earth” capsule, including a new spin on its Hug Top Handle bag, made of real leather, yes, but vegetable-tanned to decrease chemicals, in ethically approved factories.

“It’s a slow process,” offers ethical stylist Rienda. “But it’s a start.”

This story appears in the April 2025 Sustainability digital issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to see the rest of the issue.