What is vegan leather? PU, PVC and bonded, explained

"Vegan leather" is a catch-all term, and that's exactly where people get caught out. It covers materials that look similar on a screen but behave completely differently under a needle. Here's what the label actually means, and how to tell a good one from a cheap one.

At its simplest, vegan leather is any leather-look material made without animal hide — that's what PU and plant-based materials have in common. One material often sold alongside them, recycled bonded leather, is actually leather-based (more on that below). Beyond the label you're really buying one of a few distinct materials — and knowing which is the difference between a bag that lasts and one that peels in a year.

The main types, explained

PU (polyurethane) — the modern standard

Most vegan leather sold today is PU: a polyurethane skin on a fabric backing (usually polyester or cotton). It's soft, flexes without cracking, and can be finished to mimic almost any grain — smooth, saffiano, pebbled, even croc. Good PU is the sweet spot for makers: consistent, workable, and free of the environmental and durability problems of older materials. When we say "vegan leather," this is usually what we mean.

PVC (polyvinyl chloride) — the one to avoid

PVC is the old "pleather." It's cheaper, but stiffer, less breathable, and it uses plasticisers that make it a poor environmental choice — and it tends to crack and go tacky as it ages. If a material is suspiciously cheap and smells strongly of plastic, it's usually PVC. We don't sell it. Our range is PU-based, plant-based, or recycled bonded leather.

Recycled bonded leather — not vegan, but low-waste

Bonded leather is made from reclaimed leather fibres — offcuts and shavings — bonded into a smooth, uniform sheet. Our Salamander range is exactly this. Because it's made from real leather offcuts it's leather-based rather than vegan, so we label it clearly. It has a firmer, more paper-like body than PU, which makes it superb for book covers, boxes and anything you want to fold crisply or emboss — and it's a lower-footprint way to use material that would otherwise be waste.

Bio-based and plant materials

This is the fast-moving corner: leather alternatives grown from cactus (Desserto), apple waste, pineapple leaf (Piñatex), cork and mushroom. They're genuinely exciting, and worth watching. In practice, most of these still use a PU binder, and production-ready material you can buy by the metre today is still mostly PU-based — but the plant category is closing that gap every year.

Is vegan leather actually good quality?

It can be excellent, and it can be junk — the word alone tells you nothing. Here's what we look at when we choose what to stock:

• The backing. A dense woven or knit backing holds stitches and resists stretch. A thin, papery backing is a red flag.
• The hand. Quality PU has a supple, slightly warm feel. Cheap material feels cold, plasticky and stiff.
• Thickness and consistency. A good sheet is even edge to edge — no thin patches. Ours run roughly 0.35–0.8 mm depending on the material.
• Certification. Our PU and plant-based materials are PETA-Approved Vegan — no animal products anywhere. Our one exception, recycled bonded leather, is leather-based, and we label it clearly.

Vegan leather vs real leather — the honest version

We're not going to pretend one wins at everything. The real trade-off:

	Vegan leather (PU / plant-based)	Animal hide
Consistency	Uniform sheet to sheet, no natural flaws	Varies; scars, thin spots, irregular edges
Workability	Cuts clean, minimal waste, easy to sew	Skilled cutting, more waste
Weight & cost	Lighter, lower and predictable per m²	Heavier, priced by the whole hide
Ethics	No animal hide; PETA-Approved	Animal-derived
Ageing	Holds its finish (distressed looks built in)	Develops a natural patina over years

Short version: for consistent, repeatable making — bags, wallets, covers, upholstery — vegan leather is usually the easier, cheaper, more predictable choice. For a one-off heirloom where natural patina is the whole point, hide still earns its place.

How to choose your first vegan leather

Don't buy full sheets off a screen — colour and texture never read true on a monitor. Order a sample pack or the colour swatch ring first, feel the hand in daylight, and test a stitch line. Then buy the exact size you'll cut. It's the difference between guessing and knowing.