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Consumers Want to Eat Beef, Not Wear It, Sending Leather Prices Plummeting
- Footwear makers are top leather users, but buying a lot less
- More Americans want to cover their feet in animal-free plastic
Allbirds.
Photographer: Tommaso Boddi/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Back in 1991, when Scott Starbuck opened City Soles in Chicago, most of the shoes his customers wanted were made with real leather from cow hides.
Today, shoppers have a more vegan sensibility about what goes on their feet, demanding shoes with non-animal elements like canvas, microfiber and plastic. Making the choice easier are advances in the quality of fake leather, which is now so good most buyers can’t distinguish it from the real thing.