Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Non-Synthetic Sustainable Vegan Fashion: Drivers and Barriers

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Abstract

The ethical concerns surrounding conventional animal-based fashion (e.g., leather, fur, wool), and the environmental issues related to their synthetic vegan alternatives (e.g., polyurethane leather) pushed the industry toward plant- and bio-based non-synthetic sustainable vegan fashion (NSSVF) alternatives (Tewari et al., 2024). While innovations in these materials are rapidly evolving, with both luxury and mass-market fashion brands showing increasing interest in NSSVF materials (Cernansky, 2022), it remains an underexplored area in the current consumer behavior literature. The existing scant literature uses ‘vegan fashion’ inconsistently, without clearly distinguishing between synthetic vegan fashion and NSSVF alternatives (Lamarche-Beauchesne, 2023). Furthermore, the wide availability of synthetic vegan fashion might limit consumers’ knowledge and perception of NSSVF alternatives (Tewari et al., 2024). Hence, this paper proposes a grounded theory approach through interviews with Gen Z and Millennials to explore their understanding of vegan fashion, their awareness of NSSVF alternatives and the associated drivers and barriers.

Keywords: vegan fashion, non-synthetic vegan fashion, consumer motivations, adoption barriers

How to Cite:

Dawar, P. & Lee, A., (2025) “Non-Synthetic Sustainable Vegan Fashion: Drivers and Barriers”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 82(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.21706