New guidelines have been created by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) to ensure vegan fashion is ‘100 percent cruelty-free’.
Under the new rules, businesses will be obliged to examine all materials are free from animal products, including glues, dyes, and waxes – not just well-known fabrics such as leather, fur, and suede.
‘Sustainable’
The BRC, who said it was ‘inundated with requests from fashion buyers trying to find vegan products’, states only items that feature alternatives to materials traditionally made from animals (aka leather) should be labeled as vegan.
Retailers will also be warned to not label vegan items as ‘sustainable’ just because they’re free-from animal products.
‘Concerned about ethics’
According to The Guardian, Founder of Scottish tights brand Snag said the company had to look into the dyes it used to make sure its products were vegan.
“A lot of [dyes] are not vegan-friendly because they are made out of crushed beetles. We have to be careful about the dyeing process and getting really good cotton,” Read told the publication,
“We’re very much based around our customers and lots of them are vegan and concerned about ethics. [Customers] ask us every single day: ‘Are your tights vegan?’”