Wooly hats and gloves are a staple in many people’s winter wardrobes, but most don’t realise the unnecessary harm that rearing sheep brings. Sheep are regularly nicked, cut, amputated, and even castrated during the shearing process.
If you don’t think that the process of shearing itself is bad, you might want to consider the larger impact of bringing another life into the world, just in order to keep your hands warm. Also, the inevitable destination of a wool producing sheep’s life is the dinner plate.
Many people are now turning to veganism because they’ve realised that taking from animals is simply unnecessary and cruel, and share a belief that rearing animals just to use their body for our comfort is barbaric and needs to end.
Luckily, the end is in sight, and the number of materials that offer equal if not more warmth and comfort are available at the same or lower cost. There are now few excuses not to make the change.
Fabrikk
Fabrikk’s range of vegan cork hats and accessories are all made in England, which is a reassuring sign of quality. They have a range of men’s hats in awesome pastel and neutral colours, and in different styles from standard baseball caps to the ‘bakerboy’ look shown below.
FABRIKK is a new and innovative brand of ethically sourced, cruelty-free luxury accessories with a focus on simplistic, functional design and the latest tech materials.
BBCo
There isn’t much more satisfying when it’s -2ºC outside than wrapping up warm in layers and going for a bracing walk, especially over the festive season. Pulling on a cosy hat to keep your head warm is a must, but why not ensure it compliments your outfit too. Muted autumn tones are in, and BBCo has a mix of vegan beanie and bobble hats featuring warm reds, blues and greens. Made from acrylic ‘wool’ the Elan is one of this brand’s best-selling beanies, and can easily outperform wool for warmth.
HoodLamb
We’ve featured this Dutch brand on our blog before because we love their simple aesthetic, and as their use of hemp as a sustainable and cruelty free material. They have a range of vegan bobble hats, scarves and accessories, but we think their simple vegan beanies and gloves will complete any sophisticated winter wardrobe this year. Available in black as well as some nice muted colours you’re sure to find something in your colour.
-
Credit: HoodLamb -
Bleed
Mainland and Eastern Europe is becoming a great source of vegan outerwear brands, and Bleed as the name might suggest is committed to great winter wear without the animal products. We like that most of their items are explicitly unisex, and these gloves and hat combo would compliment most outfits. The cute tree detail lifts these grey gloves, and they would make them a stylish addition to a anyone’s stocking this Christmas, whether they’re vegan or not. We especially like that they don’t use unnecessary plastic in their packaging, and offset their shipping carbon footprint through DHL’s GoGreen campaign.
Credit: Bleed
Brick
Not all of Brick Beanies hats are vegan, but they do make some lovely styles that are acrylic-only and we salute their commitment to having a vegan options. Also, it was hard not to include this lovely bobble hat in grey and red.
Noah
Noah are an Italian brand renowned for their vegan shoes, but they also have a nice range of hats and accessories clearly designed for bitterly cold winters in the alps. Faux fur isn’t everyone’s bag, but this lovely assured vegan hat in grey and black is super soft and stylish.
We hope our round up of vegan hats and gloves has your search all wrapped up in time for the big freeze this winter. If you had any hesitation of whether it was possible to be vegan and dress well all year round, then hopefully you can take some reassurance that there are designers out there, working hard to make vegan fashion mainstream, affordable and most importantly stylish.
Fashion+Compassion