What is vegan leather? PU, PVC and 5 plant-based ones compared

Vegan leather is any leather look-alike made without animal skin. The plain kind is plastic, polyurethane (PU) or PVC on a fabric backing, and some of the plant-based names still contain it. Of the five we checked, only Mirum says it is plastic-free; Piñatex and AppleSkin name the polyurethane in them.

Piñatex, the pineapple-leaf material, comes in versions with very different amounts of plastic. Its base, Piñafelt, is 80% waste pineapple leaf fiber and 20% PLA, which the maker itself describes as a vegetable-based plastic made from corn starch. On Piñatex Original, the polyurethane coating makes up 10% of the material. On Piñatex Performance it makes up 42%. Same name, same pineapple, and a little over four times the coating by our arithmetic. So the useful question at the till is which version, and how much binder, and a tag that just says Piñatex does not tell you. If the bag is going to have to last, our guide to how long vegan leather lasts is the other half of that decision.

What vegan leather is made of

The plain synthetic kind is a plastic coating, polyurethane or PVC, on a textile. Both are vegan in the only sense that matters for the label: no animal went into them. Whether you are comfortable carrying plastic is a separate question, and it is the one the plant-based materials are trying to answer.

The plant-based materials work on the same principle with a different filling. A plant base (fiber, fruit waste, cactus or bacterial cellulose) is held together and sealed by a binder, then often laid on a backing fabric. The binder is where the plastic usually lives, and the backing can be a plant fiber such as cotton or lyocell, or polyester, which is its own question; our polyester explainer covers that one.

Material	Who makes it	Base	Binder or coating, per the maker	Vegan, per the maker
Piñatex	Ananas Anam	80% pineapple leaf fiber, 20% PLA	PU coating: 10% (Original), 42% (Performance)	PETA approved
AppleSkin	VEGATEX	Plant waste	Water-based PU, on a lyocell backing	PETA approved
Desserto	Desserto	Cactus	Its own “Bio-Polymer”; best materials 90% bio-based	“Vegan approved and certified”
Mirum	Natural Fiber Welding	Natural rubber, plant oils and waxes, pigments, minerals	None; sold as plastic-free	Not stated; every listed ingredient is plant or mineral
Malai	Malai	Bacterial cellulose from coconut water	Not stated	Described as vegan

Five plant-based names, read from the maker’s page

Piñatex

Piñatex answers more questions on its own FAQ than any other material here, including the awkward ones. It says the coating on Original and Mineral is a water-based PU resin, that Piñatex as a whole is not 100% biodegradable, and that its pineapple-and-PLA base is biodegradable only “under controlled industry conditions”. It is PETA approved, water resistant rather than waterproof, and the maker suggests a colorless natural wax to keep Original and Mineral looking hydrated.

The catch is the version. If the product page says Piñatex and nothing else, you do not know whether you are buying 10% coating or 42%. Ask, or assume the higher number.

AppleSkin

AppleSkin is now sold by VEGATEX, which makes it alongside LemonSkin and BarleySkin. Its FAQ is plain about the build: plant waste mixed with water-based polyurethane forms the surface, and lyocell made from wood pulp forms the bottom layer. The USDA certifies it as 66% bio-based, and it is PETA approved.

What it does not give you is the share of apple. Asked about biodegradability, the FAQ answers “We have no official records yet”. Don’t buy AppleSkin expecting it to compost. Buy it if a material certified as two-thirds bio-based is the improvement you are after, knowing the binder is still polyurethane.

Desserto

Desserto’s FAQ asks itself the question every buyer wants answered, “Is there any PU in Desserto materials?”, and replies that Desserto is “a different material by formulae” made with its own Bio-Polymer from organic renewable compounds. It answers neither way. Elsewhere the same FAQ says its most advanced materials are 90% bio-based, that all its materials are vegan approved and certified, and that finished products are only partly biodegradable, under anaerobic thermophilic conditions.

I like the cactus story as much as anyone, and I still read that PU answer three times. If plastic content is your reason for choosing a material, Desserto has not given you the number you need.

Mirum

Mirum is the one material here sold as plastic-free. Its maker, Natural Fiber Welding, calls it the world’s first plastic-free alternative to leather and lists natural rubber, plant oils and waxes, natural pigments and minerals. An earlier post from the company names cork powder and coconut husk fiber, with an optional natural fabric backing and no petrochemical adhesives. Stella McCartney announced it would use Mirum from Winter 2023.

Natural Fiber Welding’s page does not use the word vegan. Nothing on its ingredient list comes from an animal, but if you want a certifier’s name on it, you will not find one there.

Malai

Malai starts from a different place entirely: bacterial cellulose, fermented using water from mature coconuts that coconut processors would otherwise throw away. The company describes its range as compostable and its materials as biodegradable, non-toxic and vegan, and it sells finished goods directly, including a laptop sleeve and a tote.

Its page does not say what, if anything, is added to the cellulose to finish it. If you need a number for the plastic content, Malai’s page will not give you one. If a material its maker calls compostable matters more to you than a spec sheet, it is the most interesting thing on this list.

Which one to choose

Every material on this page is made without animal skin. The difference is the plastic. If you want none, Mirum is the only one here whose maker says that outright. If you want a number, Piñatex and AppleSkin give you one. If the maker answers the plastic question with a story instead of a percentage, as Desserto does, treat it the way you would treat a “natural” claim on a shampoo bottle: pleasant, and not an answer.

Plain PU is the honest baseline. It is fully synthetic and it is vegan. A plant-based label is an improvement only when the maker tells you how much of the plastic it replaced. Second-hand animal leather is the other option people raise here, and our answer to whether second-hand leather is vegan is no.

Looking after it

Once you own it, care matters more than the label. Piñatex’s own advice is a colorless natural wax; for the everyday version with PU, our guide to cleaning vegan leather goes through it step by step.