Three Ways a Vegan Suit is Different from a Traditional Suit

Over the past few years there has been a huge rise in people opting for a vegan diet. With World Vegan Day on the 1st November, many will be celebrating and spreading the word about a vegan lifestyle. Veganism isn’t necessarily about what you eat. It’s also about an entire lifestyle, from the food on your table to the clothes on your back.

Many people are now thinking more deeply about where their clothes come from, what they’re made out of and, most importantly, how they make them feel. We’ve seen a huge increase in the number of clients coming to us for a vegan suit. But what exactly is a vegan suit? In this blog, we show you three ways that a vegan suit differs from a traditional suit.

CLOTH

The most important element of any superlative bespoke suit is the cloth. The traditional suiting material is wool and those embracing the vegan lifestyle don’t want to wear garments that are made from animal products. At King & Allen, we offer a few different alternatives to wool. The most popular of these is bamboo. With its beautifully-soft handle and impeccable drape, it’s a favourite with our vegan clients. And it’s available in so many gorgeous colours and patterns! 

As well as bamboo, we also offer cotton, linen, velvet and corduroy. We also launched our ‘eco-cloth’ a couple of years ago, which is made from recycled bottles. This has also proved to be an attractive choice to our vegan clients and has one of the lowest carbon footprints globally. It’s made from 100% used PET bottles and the manufacturing methods are eco-friendly, using bio-fuels rather than fossil fuels for generating steam and re-using water. The manufacturing implements a zero waste concept, meaning that all the material is either used or sold in-market.

CONSTRUCTION

Traditional bespoke suits are made using a horsehair canvas. The canvas is the supporting structure of the suit and will help the fabric drape well over the body and will slowly mould to your shape, making it actually fit better over time. For our vegan clients, we offer a synthetic alternative to horsehair that still maintains all the excellent qualities of a horsehair canvas but with no animal products used.

DETAILS

From the lining to the buttons, we think about all of the details of a bespoke vegan suit. Traditional linings can be made out of silk, which is manufactured using the silkworm. Any animal products are a no-go for vegans. We offer a huge array of vegan linings, made using cupro (a material made from cotton waste) and viscose. These are available in plain colours, or in a variety of fun patterns for a range of tastes and personalities! 

Buttons are often made using horn (usually reindeer horn), which is not an option for our vegan clients. We offer a fantastic alternative, in the form of corozo buttons. These are made using the corozo nut and each one has a unique look, thanks to the grain of the nut. This  means that no two buttons will be the same. A small detail that makes a vegan suit extra special!

If you'd like to find out more about a vegan suit or have one made. Please contact us today or arrange an appointment here.