Sustainability, durability and cost aren’t usually things you think about when you fall in love with a bag. You see the shape, the color, how it fits with your life.
But when buying a handbag, there are practical questions we should always ask ourselves, such as: What’s it made from? How long will it last? Is this actually better for the planet?
At Sattaché, we get asked about materials a lot.
We design travel bags that use next-generation vegan leather, so we sit right inside this debate every day. That’s why we’ve created this guide that looks at vegan leather vs real leather and how they match up for sustainability, durability and cost.
What People Mean by “Real” Leather
When people say “real leather”, they’re talking about animal hide that’s been tanned and finished so it doesn’t decay. Most often, that’s cowhide. Sometimes it’s sheep, goat or other animals.
A few things define traditional leather:
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It’s strong and naturally flexible.
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It can last for years, sometimes decades, if cared for.
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It develops a patina – the soft shine and lived-in look you see on well-worn leather bags and jackets.
The flip side is how it’s made. Turning skin into something that looks and feels “luxury” involves intensive farming and chemical-heavy tanning. It’s durable, but there’s a big environmental and ethical cost sitting behind that durability.
What Is Vegan Leather
“Vegan leather” is a broad term. It covers everything from budget “pleather” that cracks after a season, to engineered materials that are designed to be light, strong and long-lasting.
Most vegan leather today falls into three camps:
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PU-based materials – polyurethane coated onto a fabric backing.
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PVC-based materials – older, more rigid plastics (less common now because of their impact).
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Bio-based and recycled blends – newer materials made with plant content, recycled plastics or both.
Older faux leathers earned a bad name for feeling stiff and peeling quickly. The materials we use at Sattaché are a different generation: softer, more flexible, and engineered specifically for everyday movement, weight and constant use.
You still need to look closely at quality, but alternatives are no longer just a cheaper imitation. In many cases, it’s a practical design choice.
Is Leather Sustainable
It’s easy to assume that “vegan” automatically equals “good” and “real leather” automatically equals “bad”. The reality is more layered.
With animal leather, the main issues are:
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Livestock farming – land use, deforestation, water use and methane emissions.
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Tanning and finishing – heavy water use, chemicals, and waste management.
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Waste – offcuts and unsold stock that still carry the full impact of production.
With vegan leather materials, some are sustainable, others are not, the questions we need to ask are:
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What are they made from (virgin plastics vs recycled or plant content)?
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How long do they last?
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Do they shed microplastics?
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What happens at end of life?
From a climate perspective, many studies show that plastic-based leather has a lower carbon footprint per square metre than cow leather. But if a material falls apart quickly and needs replacing, that benefit erodes. Sustainability isn’t only about what something is made from; it’s also about how long it stays in use.
For us, that’s the balance: choose materials with a lower footprint and design them to last.
Eco Friendly Leather Alternatives
When people talk about eco friendly leather alternatives, they’re usually talking about moving away from both traditional and old-school PVC.
Right now, there’s a whole spectrum:
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Higher-grade PU that’s lighter and more durable than earlier versions.
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Recycled blends that use plastics already in circulation rather than new oil.
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Plant-based materials made from pineapple leaves, cactus, apple waste, mushrooms, grapes, cork and more.
Most of these newer materials still use some kind of binder or coating to make them strong enough for daily use. They’re not perfect, but they’re a clear step away from both heavy livestock impacts and brittle, short-life plastics.
As a brand, the type of leather we’ve chosen does three things at once:
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Cut out animal products.
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Uses recycled materials to reduce impact.
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Stand up to the reality of travel, such as going in overhead bins, train floors, full days out.
Durability and Daily Use:
A material can look sustainable on paper, but what matters to you is how it behaves in real life.
Traditional leather
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Tough, with high tear and abrasion resistance.
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Ages rather than “breaks”, if you condition it and keep it dry.
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Doesn’t like soaking rain, radiators, or being left in strong sun.
Modern vegan leather
This depends heavily on quality. Lower-end versions can crack, peel or warp with regular use. Higher-end, multi-layer constructions are a different story:
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They keep their shape under weight (laptops, shoes, chargers, everything).
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They handle light rain and spills well – a quick wipe and they’re fine.
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They don’t need the same level of creams or polishes to stay looking good.
When we develop a Sattaché bag, we test for bending, rubbing, straps under load, zips under strain, the things that actually kill a bag. Our goal is to make sure that your bag is the one you reach for every day, not the one you worry about “saving” for best.
Cost and Value
Real leather usually sits at a higher price point. You’re paying for:
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The raw material.
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Longer, more complex processing.
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Often, the brand's positioning.
If you buy a well-made leather bag and use it for ten years, the cost per wear can be very low. If it spends most of its life in a dust bag, less so.
Vegan leather spans a wider range. At the bottom end, you’ll find very cheap pieces that look great in photos but don’t hold up. In the mid to premium range, you’re paying for better engineering, better backing fabrics and more considered production.
As a brand, we design for cost per use, not just cost per item. A Sattaché bag is priced to reflect the work that goes into the materials, hardware and build – but the real value comes from how much you use it: commuting, work trips, weekend flights, everything in between.
Cruelty Free Leather
For many people, the ethical issue is that they don’t want to wear animal skin. That’s where cruelty free leather comes in – materials that avoid animal products altogether.
The ethical picture isn’t only about animals, though. It also touches:
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Workers in tanneries and factories.
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Communities around production sites.
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How transparent brands are about their supply chains.
Choosing vegan materials doesn’t magically solve all of that, but it does remove one major source of harm. From there, it’s about pushing for better standards in the factories that make and finish these materials too.
How Leather Vs Vegan Leather Feels: Looking at Texture ad Structure
There’s a reason leather has such a strong hold on fashion. It feels substantial. It creases and softens in a way people recognize as “real”. It also varies a lot – from very smooth to more textured grains.
Modern vegan materials have caught up fast:
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They can be engineered to be smooth, pebbled, matte or lightly glossy.
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They’re often lighter than their animal counterparts, which matters when you’re carrying a laptop, shoes and everything else.
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They’re more consistent across panels, which helps with clean, minimal designs.
With Sattaché, that consistency is part of the aesthetic. We want the bag to hold its silhouette on a busy commute, not slouch the minute you put it down. Vegan materials help us control that structure.
Final Thoughts
So, where does that leave you with vegan leather vs real leather? The decision comes down to your values and your reality:
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If you want to avoid animal products and support lower-impact materials, a well-made vegan bag is a strong choice.
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If you already own real leather, the most sustainable thing you can do is use and care for it for as long as possible.
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If you’re buying new, focus less on the label and more on how often you’ll use it, how long it will last, and how it fits your life.
At Sattaché, we use vegan materials because they allow us to design bags that work as hard as the women who carry them. The Classic Bag was built for real life: morning workouts, airport security, back-to-back meetings and last-minute dinner plans. Its recycled ocean-nylon shell, antimicrobial lining and recycled bottle-polyester interior keep up with the pace, while the vegan leather accents bring the structure and polish you’d expect from a premium bag.
Every detail is there for a reason. The discreet shoe compartment solves the problem that no other handbag has ever solved, plus the interchangeable straps mean you can switch between crossbody, shoulder, top-handle, or hands-free in seconds. Best of all, the whole design stays light, water-resistant and easy to clean.
Explore the collection and discover the bag you never knew you needed.