Vegan leather is a material that mimics real leather, but that is created from either synthetic or plant-based materials instead of animal skins. Also called "faux" or "synthetic" leather, vegan leather is most commonly made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyurethane (PU), two plastic polymers that help give the crinkled effect of real leather.
Over the past few years, however, PVC and PU have been falling out of favour due to the environmental challenges they can present, and have started being replaced by more sustainable materials that can be made out of natural resources such as pineapple leaves, apple peels, other fruit waste, recycled plastic, and cork.