Is Velvet Vegan? How To Tell (and Where to Shop)

Previously published at MartaCanga.com

Velvet: it’s luxuriously soft, moves wonderfully and has been a fashion staple for many years. Is it vegan? There is no easy yes or no answer. Keep on reading to find out why.

What Is Velvet?

Let’s start by putting it this way: you have velvet for fashion and velvet for home. Velvet for fashion is not historically vegan! Velvet is actually the combination of silk fibres woven into two layers. The cut threads are evenly distributed and this technique goes back to the 1.000 AC, in Northern Africa. That’s what makes it expensive and dense. This is the real velvet, folks! Not what you find in the high street, which is usually made from cotton or synthetic materials. So if you find a piece of fashion that contains velvet, priced above £100, chances are that it contains silk!

How to identify vegan velvet?

Thankfully, we nowadays can find synthetic and natural fabrics that can replace the need for silk. This makes velvet much more affordable and you only need to red the manufacturer’s label to understand where your textile is from. Cotton-blended skirts and dresses are easy to find, but you’ll often find velvety materials made from lyocell, raffia, polyester, or nylon, without any of the cruelty.

Velvet for the home tends to be always vegan. Silk, although it decomposes organically, is not a very durable material per se. So most of the velvet sofas you have sat on an you’ll keep sitting on will probably be vegan. Synthetic materials are just more durable in terms of cleanliness, tearing and ripping apart, and colour fades quicker too.

One Brand that Offers Vegan Velvet: Da Quy

One place where you can get vegan velvet is cruelty-free shoe company Da Quy, who show that anything is possible in dressing more animal- and eco-friendly.

Da Quy is a vegan shoe company based in Italy. They have been approved by the Vegan Society and none of the shoes use animal components, including the glue.

Founder Erica Ramilli created the brand with the intention to make vegan shoes fashionable. The shoes are designed and crafted in Italy. ‘Da Quy’ means ‘precious stones’ in Vietnamese, in this case referring to the brand’s simple but precious vegan shoes. Their designs are made for conscious consumers who do not want to compromise on aesthetics, offering original shoes for the compassionate fashionista!

Here, I am wearing the Angelite Moccasins in Blue Velvet.

Is Velvet Vegan? How To Identify If It's Vegan Or Not!
 
Angelita is the name of a blue stone said to gift peace and safety. The shoes are made from vegan velvet in polyester and cotton, and the sole is made with coria, which is a material created with rubber and resin.
This model is probably the most comfortable pair of shoes I own. Soft and delicate, these vegan moccasins are perfect for those who live in flats but refuse to give up the style factor. I picked mine in dark blue, as I thought it would match most of the colours of my wardrobe.

Is Velvet Vegan? How To Identify If It's Vegan Or Not!

 

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Marta Canga

I'm a Londoner helping animal lovers elevate their vegan style. Vegan fashion is my thing and I love tofu. Is there a vegan who doesn't like tofu?

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