Everyone has at least one pair of jeans in their closet. And vegans are not the exception.
Otherwise a perfectly vegan item, jeans are often made non-vegan by a small leather patch on the waistband.
To help you avoid the small evil thing, we have listed our favorite vegan jeans for 2024. Shop beautiful vegan jeans that are cruelty-free and leather-patch-free.
Nudie Jeans
Mother Denim
Boyish Jeans
Topshop
American Eagle
Kings of Indigo
Armed Angels
Mud Jeans
What Makes Jeans Vegan?
Jeans are usually vegan if they do not contain an animal leather patch. The denim itself is 100% vegan material and made of cotton.
On vegan jeans, the patch is made of rubber, vegan leather, or paper-derived jacron. Sometimes the patch is left out altogether.
When buying vegan jeans, you still need to be careful. Many traditional jeans companies like Levi’s still like to include a leather patch on their jeans.
And though tiny, making the small leather patch still requires a lot of toxic chemicals, dyes, and violence towards animals.
What To Look For In Vegan Jeans?
When choosing vegan jeans, prefer jeans made from organic or recycled cotton.
Traditional cotton production uses heavy pesticides linked to water and air pollution. It also produces high levels of CO2 and harms biodiversities.
Organic cotton uses no harmful pesticides and chemicals. It takes much less water to make and it cuts water pollution by 98%. It is also safer for sensitive skin.
Recycled cotton is another great choice. As the world is drowning in fashion waste, repurposing old jeans into new materials is the only sustainable way forwards.
In addition, choose vegan jeans that are not sprayed heavily with chemicals. That way, you protect both your skin and our planet. And the jeans still look great.
Best Vegan Jeans Brands
Here are the best vegan jeans brands right now. Discover sustainable vegan brands like Boyish Jeans and Kings of Indigo.
Nudie Jeans
Looking for organic vegan jeans? Go for Nudie Jeans.
This Swedish brand uses only 100 % organic cotton and they are a certified fair-trade company. Nudie also produces new jeans from the old ones.
The company offers vegan jeans for both women and men. Nudie’s vegan jeans are high-quality, durable, and designed to be worn for years.
The organic cotton vegan jeans come in different designs: tight, fit, regular, or loose. Nudie Jeans also has a rich choice of raw vegan (selvage) jeans.
Although Nudie is not a fully vegan brand, they do not use leather patches on any of their jeans. Only some of their sweaters contain wool.
Based in | Gothenburg, Sweden
Vegan jeans for | women & men
Sustainability | organic, fair trade, recycled, eco-friendly
Shop on: Amazon, Official Site
Mother Denim
Los Angeles brand Mother Denim offers vegan jeans made in the USA. As the name suggests, a mother knows what is best for the world and for animals.
All patches of this brand are made of vegan leather. They utilize product overages and some of their products are packed in biodegradable material.
Mother offers stylish indie vegan jeans for both men and women. Classic straight, high rise, wide leg, bootcut, cropped, ankle – they got them all.
We love Mother’s large selection of different shades of blue vegan jeans. And they even have hand-dyed jeans so you don’t have to DIY.
As a socially conscious brand, Mother partners in charity campaigns such as No Kid Hungry, mothers2mothers, Doctors Without Borders, and so many others.
Based in | Los Angeles, USA
Vegan jeans for | women & men
Sustainability | vegan, ethical, made in the USA, eco-friendly, socially conscious
Shop on: Amazon, Official Site
Boyish Jeans
Boyish Jeans is the ultimate brand for eco-friendly and sustainable vegan jeans for women. Based in Los Angeles, Boyish is a 100% vegan brand.
They use eco-friendly fabrics and dyes with a minimal amount of chemicals. The entire design process of Boyish is always cruelty-free.
The vintage-inspired vegan jeans come in all shapes. You can find skinny, straight, tapered, or flare jeans for every taste.
The color range of Boyish Jeans is also impressive. They have classic black and blue vegan jeans along with gold, green, khaki, charcoal, lavender, and white.
Based in | Los Angeles, USA
Vegan jeans for | women
Sustainability | vegan, eco-friendly, toxin-free
Shop on: Amazon, Official Site
Topshop
Looking for affordable vegan jeans? Topshop jeans are entirely vegan and cruelty-free as the brand uses no leather patches.
The British high-street brand offers a wide range of timeless vegan jeans. Although the price of the jeans is lower, the quality is still commendable.
Topshop’s most popular jeans are their vegan skinny jeans. We also love their trendy high-waste and ripped knee styles and vegan maternity jeans.
Topshop is one of the most popular high-street chains established in 1964. At the beginning of 2021, Topshop closed its stores and moved online.
Based in | London, United Kingdom
Vegan jeans for | women
Sustainability | organic cotton
American Eagle
American Eagle is an American clothing brand famous for its jeans. Though not a 100% vegan brand, American Eagle does offer vegan-friendly jeans.
Recently, American Eagle launched their sustainable label ‘Real Good’ to help make the jeans industry more planet-friendly.
‘Real Good’ jeans are made in factories that meet the Water Leadership Program. They also use sustainable materials like recycled polyester and organic cotton.
When shopping for vegan jeans at American Eagle, always look for jeans that do not have a patch at all. That way, you can be sure the jeans are vegan-friendly.
Based in | Pittsburg, USA
Vegan jeans for | women & men
Sustainability | sustainable collection, recycled materials
Shop on: Official Site
Kings of Indigo
Planet-friendly materials, water use, social responsibility, transport, and recycling waste – these are the keywords for Kings of Indigo.
This PETA-certified vegan company is leading the way in ethical and eco-conscious vegan jeans for men and women.
Born in Amsterdam, Kinds of Indigo jeans are made from organic vegan cotton along with sustainable and recycled materials.
Since 2020, they no longer use PP spray (potassium permanganate) – a widely used chemical to give a faded effect to jeans.
From mid-rise slim to low-rise, loose and balloon fit, you are sure to find the perfect vegan jeans from Kings of Indigo.
The company has an amazing selection of dark vegan jeans and black vegan jeans.
Based in | Amsterdam, Netherlands
Vegan jeans for | women & men
Sustainability | vegan, eco-friendly, organic & recycled materials, toxin-free
Armed Angels
Armed Angels is an eco-conscious German brand founded in 2007. The company combines organic & fairtrade materials with stylish designs.
From Armed Angels, you will find a great collection of sustainable vegan jeans for women and men. The jeans are all toxin-free and use less water.
We love the vegan skinny jeans from Armed Angels. They also have vegan jeans in mom fit, straight, classic, wide-leg, and a boyfriend fit.
90% of Armed Angels clothing is vegan but they still use wool in some of their apparel. Their jeans are always vegan and leather-patch-free.
Based in | Cologne, Germany
Vegan jeans for | women & men
Sustainability | sustainably made, eco-friendly, toxin-free
Mud Jeans
Mud Jeans is a PETA-certified vegan company from the Netherlands.
The brand believes in simplicity with timeless vegan jeans made of organic and recycled cotton. The jeans are sustainably made with a low CO2 footprint.
Mud Jeans says no to heavy chemicals that are often used to dye and spray jeans. Instead of leather patches, Mud Jeans uses printed labels.
We love that Mud Jeans is taking back all old cotton jeans in order to make new eco-friendly vegan ones. Instead of buying jeans, you can also lease them.
At Mud Jeans, men and women can shop vegan jeans by fit: loose, flared, skinny, straight, tapered, or slim.
Based in | Almere, Netherlands
Vegan jeans for | women & men
Sustainability | vegan, organic, recycled, toxin-free
FAQ About Vegan Jeans
Jeans are vegan if they include no leather patch. The denim itself is a vegan material and is made of cotton and twill.
The denim is a 100% vegan material and consists of cotton and twill.
Yes, vegans can wear jeans. As a vegan, you just need to make sure your jeans do not have a leather patch.
Some of Levi’s jeans are vegan but not all of them. When shopping for vegan Levi’s, you need to be careful and choose a paper patch instead of a leather one.
American Eagle is not 100% vegan. But they have jeans that are cruelty-free and vegan-friendly.
Nudie Jeans is not a 100% vegan company but their jeans are all vegan-friendly.
Summary
Vegan jeans come in all shapes and styles with one clear statement. Jeans do not need a patch of a dead animal to be fashionable. Rather the opposite.
Even big jeans manufacturers like American Eagle are moving away from leather patches onto paper patches and patchless designs.
We wish that also Levi’s would take more animal-friendly steps and quit using leather patches altogether.
With the explosion of ethical slow fashion brands, vegan jeans are not only the ethical choice but also the sustainable one.
Brands like Boyish Jeans, Mud Jeans, and Kings Of Indigo make beautiful jeans from organic and recycled cotton to ensure a better future for our planet.
We hope that we’ve made your life easier by listing the best vegan jeans brands right now. We will update this post as soon as new vegan brands come along.
See also: Vegan Clothing, Vegan Shoes, Vegan Jackets
