Built on an ethos of the essence of less, each one of our products is designed to maximise your wardrobe with minimal impact on the planet and its inhabitants. We’re constantly in pursuit of evolving our collections through the ESSEN lens of quality, longevity and responsibility, while also responding to the needs of our customers. In this pursuit, our founder Marre discovered a vegan-friendly option that emulated the high quality of our leather products. As a result, two wardrobe classics were born: The Strappy Sandal in Crystal and the Glove Boot in Patent. Both crafted in our Italian workshops, read on to learn more about our vegan-friendly leather options and the ESSEN promise.

WHY VEGAN LEATHER?

For many, the choice to wear leather alternatives comes back to animal welfare. The majority of the leather goods industry exists in countries with limited animal welfare laws in place such as India, China and Brazil. Such ambiguity makes the promise of ‘cruelty-free’ virtually impossible. For this reason we prioritise animal welfare as a mandatory requirement in our supplier code of conduct and exclusively work with Italian tanneries that are certified Gold or Silver by the Leather Working Group (LWG).

WORKING WITH VEGAN LEATHER

Most leather alternatives unfortunately still use plastic as a binding agent. Even "bio" materials such as VEGEA, PINATEX still use plastic - we've tested them all. For this reason we have previously chosen not to offer any leather alternatives. However after a number of requests from vegan customers who wanted a more responsible option that wasn't mass-produced, we introduced a small capsule of alternatives so that people could shop based on their values. While these are not considered sustainable, we have focused on using these materials in the most responsible way. This includes producing our designs in a local and transparent supply chain in Italy, and ensuring the materials are long-lasting and available in small quantities so we only make what we need and minimise waste.

THE ESSEN PROMISE

At ESSEN we exclusively work with leathers that are gold or silver-certified by LWG. This means that each tannery’s environmental impact has been audited and complies with their meticulous protocols. And while we're committed to exclusively using leather which is a by-product of the meat industry and would otherwise go to waste, all materials we use are always sourced locally to our European workshops through verified suppliers. You can learn more about our leather practices here.

We understand that for some, opting for leather alternatives is a way of shopping in line with their values. Our vegan styles expand on our commitment to exploring new materials, with exciting developments in collaboration with the NFW and we hope to introduce our first boot made from MIRUM in the near future. If you're interested you can read more about MIRUM here.