Making Your Closet Kinder + Interview with Jill Pyle, Co-Founder of Vegan Cuts

Remember Vegan Cuts? It is the awesome company I told you about a few weeks back that curates monthly Beauty Boxes, Snack Boxes plus so much more. Well, recently they put out a free guide to animal-friendly, environment-friendly and human-friendly fashion, called the Vegan Cuts Vegan Fashion Guide. This guide is full of information about how to become more conscious consumers. It includes topics like 15 fabric no-no’s, the impact of fashion on humans, animals and the planet, label reading like a pro, cruelty-free fashion retailers and great photos, some of which you’ll get to see below. The guide includes information that is thought provoking and it’s full of tips for making your closet an even kinder one.

I was lucky to interview Jill Pyle, entrepreneur and co-founder of Vegan Cuts, to hear a little more about what she has to say about cruelty-free fashion. Whether you’re looking to take the plunge completely into a cruelty-free lifestyle or just want to take baby steps, I definitely recommend checking out the Vegan Cuts Vegan Fashion Guide and reading what Jill has to say below.

Photo Cred: Vegan Cuts Vegan Fashion Guide. Left: Taylor wearing Mata Traders earrings, ZAMRIE dress and belt, The Underground Chic bag, and Cri de Coeur x Arden Wohl shoes. Right: Jill (our interviewee) wearing ZAMRIE top and skirt, Cri de Coeur x Arden Wohl shoes, Bag by Jill Milan.

Interview with Jill Pyle, Co-Founder of Vegan Cuts

Besides checking out the awesome Vegan Cuts Vegan Fashion Guide, what tips do you have for people that are interested in taking their first steps toward living a more cruelty-free lifestyle?

We’ve got a whole section on veganizing your wardrobe in the Guide, but I think that realizing all the good you’re doing for animals and for humans by weeding your wardrobe is the best place to start.

There are so many options when it comes to ridding your wardrobe of that fur coat you can’t bear the sight of or those leather shoes you no longer want, including some nontraditional ones. Wildlife rehabilitation centers will gladly take your fur coat for orphaned baby animals. Dress for Success and other employment readiness programs will take your non-vegan work attire and repurpose those items to prepare someone who is reentering the workforce. You can have such a positive impact on the world without even spending any money. How could you not be into that?

Photo Cred: Vegan Cuts Vegan Fashion Guide. Megan wearing necklace by Mata Traders, sweater by Bella M, pants and bracelet by 4 All Humanity, Jeffrey Campbell for Convert shoes, bag by The Underground Chic.

What do you think people would find most surprising to learn about the mainstream fashion industry?

While some leather does come from cows that are raised for meat and dairy, leather is not just a byproduct of the dairy and meat industries. There’s no respectful “use the whole cow” approach going on here because of the profit-focused relationship between the farming industry and the leather industry. As One Green Planet points out, it’s a vicious cycle of cruelty, with leather being a very valuable catalyst to the continuance of the meat and dairy industry.

Photo Cred: Vegan Cuts Vegan Fashion Guide. Mikael wearing Treats Quality Apparel Shirt, own pants, and KEEP Company shoes. Taken at Daley Plaza in Chicago.

What do you think people would find most surprising to learn about the vegan fashion industry?

That it’s easy to find vegan fashion, you just have to know where to look! You don’t even have to limit yourself to specific vegan retailers. Many that are not focused on veganism are recognizing the popularity of the lifestyle choice and making it easy to shop their vegan options. Examples include the very altruistic Toms or even large online presence Zappos.

Where do you see the state of vegan fashion ten years from now?

I see vegan as becoming integral to brand identity for more fashion houses. That’s not to say that vegan fashion isn’t currently gaining some of the mainstream spotlight, because it most definitely is—take fur-free lines created by Stella McCartney, Charlotte Ronson and other big name designers as examples. What I see as the difference between fashion of now and fashion of the future is a focus on veganism as a brand keystone, like Vaute Couture’s emphasis on ethics as their mission, rather than accidental veganism as just another way to reach a specific market.

Photo Cred: Vegan Cuts Vegan Fashion Guide. Taylor and Megan wearing The Tree Kisser tops, Team Colors by Skinny Jeans from Modavanti, KEEP shoes.

What can we do as individuals to help urge mainstream fashion companies to adopt cruelty-free practices?

Vote with your dollars! So many mainstream fashion companies are driven by profit so we need to use our money to make them pay attention.

At Vegan Cuts, we don’t avoid working with companies that aren’t 100% vegan. We want them to see the demand for their vegan products so that they’ll start phasing out non-vegan options and replace them with kinder ones.

If there is one message you could share with the whole world, what would it be?

Each purchase matters! Every meal, every shoe, every bag, every scarf is a way to join your voice and your ethics with the chorus of those who want to make a better, kinder world.

Happy shopping! 🙂

P.S. As Jill mentioned, there is a great organization called Coats for Cubs that will gladly accept your old fur coats you no longer want and use them for rehabilitating injured and orphaned animals around the U.S. How cool is that?