We're going to say something upfront: we make vegan shoes. We use alternative materials instead of animal leather. So when we write an article comparing vegan leather to real leather, we are not neutral. We have a position and we benefit if you choose our side.
We think you deserve to know that before you read a single word.
With that said — here is the most honest comparison we can give you.
First, a small legal controversy you should know about
Here in Portugal — where NAE has been making shoes since 2008 — the government recently passed a law banning the term "vegan leather." Portugal's Leather Decree defines what leather is and how it can be used commercially. Under the new laws, expressions such as vegan leather, synthetic leather and pineapple leather are prohibited and potentially subject to fines.
Portugal is not the first. Belgium, France, Italy and Spain have all made moves to initiate similar laws, with consumer clarity always cited as the primary motivation. However, it appears the Portuguese government is also under pressure to protect the country's traditional leather industry from the growth of sustainable alternatives.
We're going to use the term "vegan leather" anyway throughout this article — because we think you know exactly what it means. As one industry observer put it: "I don't think a single person seeing the words 'vegan leather' thinks the material is made from animal skin." We're not here to mislead anyone. We're here to inform.
The irony is not lost on us that we — a Portuguese brand — are writing this article in defiance of a Portuguese law, while sitting in our workshop in Lisbon.
What is real leather, really?
Real leather is made from animal hides — most commonly cows, but also pigs, sheep, goats and increasingly exotic animals. The process begins at a slaughterhouse and ends in a tannery.
The industry often frames leather as a byproduct — a responsible way to use what would otherwise go to waste from the meat industry. This argument has some truth to it. But leather is not a worthless by-product. It is a valuable co-product. Globally, leather accounts for up to 26% of major slaughterhouses' earnings. That means leather isn't just following meat. It's actively funding the industry that produces it.
The environmental reality of real leather
We want to be careful here not to cherry-pick statistics that support our position. So we've drawn from multiple independent sources including the European Commission, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and peer-reviewed lifecycle assessments.
The picture is significant.
The livestock sector contributes 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with cattle rearing accounting for 62% of those emissions. Because leather is a co-product of cattle farming, it shares in this burden directly.
The water footprint is equally striking. To produce a standard cowhide leather tote bag, 17,127.8 litres of water is required — equivalent to the amount of water a person would drink over 23 years.
Then there is the tanning process itself. A report supported by the European Commission found that tanning 1kg of leather uses up to 2.5kg of chemical substances and up to 250 litres of water, and generates up to 6.1kg of solid waste. Leather tanning processes use up to 170 different chemicals, including chromium, formaldehyde and arsenic, leading to significant environmental contamination.
And deforestation. Cattle ranching, driven partly by demand for leather, is responsible for 80% of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
The leather industry is aware of these figures and working to improve. There are tanneries pursuing cleaner processes, better waste management and more responsible sourcing. We acknowledge that. But the scale of the challenge is real and documented.
What is vegan leather?
This is where the story gets more complicated — and where we need to be honest about the limitations of our own side.
"Vegan leather" is not one thing. It is a category containing very different materials with very different environmental profiles.
At one end, there are plant-based materials: cork, apple peel waste, pineapple leaf fibres (Piñatex), cactus, mushroom mycelium. These are often genuinely low-impact, biodegradable and innovative. At NAE we use materials like Ecopure micro leather with 25% recycled content — materials that exist because researchers have invested years finding alternatives that perform like leather without the animal cost or environmental burden.
At the other end, there are synthetic materials based on polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). These are petroleum-derived plastics. They don't biodegrade easily. They can shed microplastics. They have their own environmental problems — just different ones.
At NAE we do not use PVC. Ever. We made that decision consciously because PVC production involves toxic chemicals including dioxins, and the material is difficult to recycle or biodegrade. It is one of the most environmentally problematic plastics in existence. When we chose our materials, we chose to avoid it entirely.
Cow-derived leather has almost three times the negative environmental impact as its synthetic counterparts, including polyurethane leather. But "less bad than leather" is not the same as "good." The honest position is that synthetic vegan materials are better than animal leather on most environmental metrics — but not a perfect solution.
The materials we are genuinely excited about are the plant-based innovations. Desserto's cactus leather has a water footprint 1,647% smaller than some bovine leather. MIRUM is produced with no water inputs beyond what's included within its natural ingredients. These are the materials pushing the industry forward.
Durability: the question everyone asks
Real leather, if well made and properly cared for, is extremely durable. This is one of its genuine strengths. A quality leather shoe or bag can last decades with the right care.
Vegan leather has historically been less durable — early synthetic materials cracked and peeled, particularly at stress points. This is a fair criticism of older materials and cheaper products that still exist on the market today.
But durability in footwear is not just about the material on the surface. It is primarily about two things: the quality of the construction and the integrity of the materials used. A shoe built properly — with solid stitching, quality soles, and materials engineered for wear — will last regardless of whether the upper is animal leather or a modern alternative.
The materials we use at NAE — including Ecopure micro leather with 25% recycled content — are specifically chosen for durability, not just ethics. They are tested to withstand years of regular wear without cracking or peeling. Our customers wear NAE shoes for years, not seasons. The difference between a shoe that lasts and one that doesn't is craftsmanship and material quality — not whether an animal was involved.
Animal welfare: the question we care most about
We started NAE in 2008 because we believed shoes didn't need to involve animal suffering. That position hasn't changed.
Approximately one billion animals are slaughtered annually for leather worldwide. The conditions in which many of those animals live before slaughter — particularly in factory farming systems — involve suffering that we find impossible to justify for the purpose of footwear or fashion.
We know this is our strongest bias. We are a vegan brand. But we also think it is the most straightforward part of this comparison.
No alternative material requires an animal to be killed. That matters to us. It may or may not matter to you. But we think you should know it's part of why we make the choices we make.
So which is better?
For the environment — vegan leather, particularly plant-based options, is significantly better than real leather on almost every measured dimension. The data on this is not seriously contested.
For animal welfare — vegan leather is unambiguously better. No animals are involved in its production.
For durability — it depends entirely on the quality of the specific product and how it is constructed. Neither category is uniformly durable or uniformly flimsy.
For the future — the innovation happening in plant-based materials right now is extraordinary. The gap between "alternative material" and "premium leather" is closing faster than most people realise.
We make our shoes from these materials — in Portugal, by skilled craftspeople, because we believe that what you wear matters. Not just aesthetically. Not just ethically. But in terms of what kind of world your choices are quietly building.
If you want to go deeper
Our materials page explains every material we use and why we chose it. And if you want to see the price of making shoes honestly — this article walks through exactly where your money goes when you buy a pair of NAE shoes.
About NAE Vegan Shoes
We've been making vegan shoes in northern Portugal since 2008. Everything we make is cruelty-free, made by hand by skilled Portuguese craftspeople, using innovative materials that don't involve animals. We're biased. We're also honest. We think those two things can coexist.