What Are Vegan Shoes Made Of?
Nae Vegan ShoesVegan shoes are made without any animal-derived materials — no leather, suede, wool, or animal-based glues. Instead, the upper, lining, insole and sole are built from a mix of plant-based materials (like apple, pineapple, cork and corn), recycled materials (such as recycled plastic bottles), and responsibly made synthetics (like certified microfibre).
Let's see where they turn up in a shoe.
What makes a shoe vegan?
A shoe is vegan when none of its parts come from an animal. That sounds obvious, but it's more involved than it looks, because a shoe has at least four places an animal material can hide:
- The upper — the outer part you see. This is usually leather in conventional shoes, and where vegan alternatives do most of their work.
- The lining — the inside. Some 'vegan' shoes have a plant-based upper but a leather or wool lining, which disqualifies them.
- The insole — the layer underfoot. Same catch as the lining.
- The glue — easy to forget. Traditional shoe adhesives can contain animal collagen; genuine vegan brands use certified animal-free glue.
So a truly vegan shoe is vegan all the way through, not just on the surface. If you want the fuller version of this, our guide on what makes a shoe truly vegan goes deeper.
Plant-based materials
This is where the newest and most interesting materials sit. Most are made from agricultural by-products — parts of a crop that would otherwise be thrown away:
- AppleSkin (apple leather) — made from the pulp and peel left over from the apple juice industry, bonded into a leather-like material. NAE uses AppleSkin made in Italy.
- Piñatex — a textile made from pineapple leaf fibre, originating in the Philippines. The leaves, normally discarded after harvest, are processed into a fabric, and any unused fibre goes back to the fields as fertiliser. No extra land, water or pesticides are needed to produce it.
- Cork — harvested from the bark of the cork oak (Quercus suber) without cutting the tree down. Cork farming actually has a negative carbon footprint, so using it has a positive environmental impact. It's naturally waterproof, hypoallergenic, light and soft.
- Corn-based materials — such as OnSteam Bioeco, a breathable material derived from corn.
- Organic cotton — grown without pesticides, used in linings, laces and canvas uppers.
The appeal is twofold: these materials avoid animal products and tend to have a far lower environmental footprint than leather.
Recycled materials
Recycled materials give waste a second life instead of sending it to landfill. The most common is recycled PET (rPET) — old plastic bottles and food containers broken down and spun into a strong, lightweight textile, often used for linings and parts of the upper. PET is still a plastic, but it's highly recyclable, so reusing it reduces the need for new plastic and keeps waste out of landfill. You'll also see recycled rubber in soles, and recycled nylon in vegan leather blends. It's a simple idea with a real impact: fewer new plastics made, less waste left over.
Responsibly made synthetics
Not every vegan material is plant-based, and that's worth being honest about. The first generation of vegan shoes relied heavily on PU and PVC — essentially plastics. They were animal-free, but not especially good for the planet.
Today's better synthetics are a step up. Certified microfibre — for example, material certified to the OEKO-TEX Standard 100, which tests for harmful substances — is durable, easy to care for, and free of the toxins found in some cheaper alternatives. NAE's own vegan leather is a blend of microfibres including cotton, polyester and nylon, recycled wherever possible. Synthetics still have a place, especially for water resistance and longevity; the goal is to use them responsibly rather than by default.
What about the sole?
Soles are usually made from rubber — either natural rubber tapped from trees, or recycled rubber. Both are animal-free. The insole underneath is often cushioned EVA, a lightweight foam, sometimes lined with moisture-wicking microfibre. None of it involves animal products.
In brief
Vegan shoes are made from three broad families of material, working together in a single shoe:
- Plant-based — apple, pineapple, cork, corn, organic cotton
- Recycled — PET bottles, recycled rubber and microfibre
- Responsible synthetics — certified microfibre, replacing older PU and PVC
What matters most is that a shoe is animal-free throughout — upper, lining, insole and glue. The materials have improved enormously over the past decade, which is why a vegan shoe today is a genuinely good product, not a compromise. If you'd like to see these materials in practice, NAE's materials page lists exactly what goes into each pair.
