For all vegans out there!
The main thing we’ve changed about our garments for them to become vegan is the use of a jacron patch instead of a leather one. The patch we are talking about can be found on the back of your jeans in the waistband. Fun fact about the patch: Originally the patch was invented by Levi’s back in 1886, this way people were able to separate the genuine Levi’s worker overalls from the fake. Nowadays, although mostly from a marketing perspective, the patch is still used by brands as a way to be recognized. Many denim brands use a leather patch on their jeans. We decided to stop using leather in 2016. We replaced the leather for a patch made of jacron, which makes most Kuyichi jeans vegan. Jacron is made of recycled paper. It is a washable and very resistant material.
Restricted Substances
Besides the leather patch, there are many other animal contents which are being used in the fashion industry. PETA provides companies and consumers with a list to identify and avoid animal ingredients in textiles, shoes and accessories. On this list are, besides the obvious, ingredients such as fatty acid, casein paint, gelatin and many others are included.
Our PETA questionnaire
To ensure our suppliers are compliant with the PETA certificate, we provide all our suppliers with our own questionnaire. They have to check and sign the questionnaire to confirm that they do not use animal contents in our goods with the PETA approved trademark. In this questionnaire, our suppliers have to fill in all animal ingredients they use and the process and product for which they use it. Furthermore, we provide them with the PETA list as well. This makes it easy for our suppliers to identify which ingredients might be animal-derived. Because of this questionnaire we know exactly which of our products are vegan and which aren’t. It also gives us knowledge about where we can improve and with which processes we should be attentive in the future.
To identify whether the pure goods you have your eyes on are vegan or not, you can simply look for the PETA symbol at the bottom of the product page. This way you’re sure your new favourite is a hardcore vegan.