8 Best Vegan Jeans For a Cruelty-Free Closet [2024]

Looking for the perfect pair of vegan jeans but don’t know where to start? Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered.

We’ve rounded up the best denim brands creating vegan jeans sustainably and ethically because along with animals, its important that humans and the planet must be protected too.

Featured brands: Left: Nudie Jeans, Middle Nudie Jeans, Right: Boyish Jeans

Whether you’ve lived a vegan lifestyle for a while now or are just starting your journey, you may wonder if all jeans are vegan. And if not, what makes them not vegan anyway?

Well, while denim itself is vegan, the main reason many denim jeans on the market aren’t vegan-friendly comes down to the leather patch, which is often used on the back of jeans.

This leather patch is typically made from animal-derived leather, meaning it’s sourced inhumanely and, therefore, unsuitable for vegans.

Don’t worry, though, because plenty of sustainable jeans brands are creating patch-free jeans from organic and eco-friendly materials.

Let’s jump in!

We’re reader-supported. The following post contains affiliate links. If you click through a link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission. We only partner with brands who share the same values as we do.

1. Boyish Jeans

Boyish Jeans vegan denim jeans

Materials: Vegan materials, Organic cotton, Tencel & Lyocell, nontoxic dyes

Styles: Women’s vegan jeans styles

Ships to: Worldwide

Boyish Jeans is an entirely vegan brand, creating dreamy denim from organic and eco-friendly materials without animal-based products.

The brand has an entirely transparent supply chain and focuses on ensuring ethical production across its supply chain, meaning Boyish didn’t exploit animals or people to create their jeans.

Unfortunately, Boyish don’t create men’s jeans, only women’s styles, but their women’s collection is seriously on point, with denim for every occasion.

Boyish Jeans vegan jeans

2. Nudie

Nudie vegan patch jeans

Materials: Organic Cotton, vegan patch

Styles: Women’s and men’s vegan jeans in all styles, including High waist, Selvage, Mom jeans, cropped, regular

Ships to: Worldwide

While Nudie technically isn’t a vegan brand and their jeans aren’t certified, their jeans are vegan friendly. The brand discontinued the use of leather patches in their jeans in 2018 and replaced them with a vegan-friendly material called Jacron (made from a blend of FSC-certified cellulose fibers and polymers). Nudie also states that their denim suppliers don’t use animal-based materials or glue.

Nudie is a great option if you’re looking for sustainable and vegan denim jeans that will last year after year. Nudie jeans have a completely transparent supply chain, and you can see exactly where each component of your denim originated.

Men's vegan jeans by Nudie

3. Mother Denim

Mother sustainable and vegan jeans

Materials: Cotton, vegan leather patch / no patch

Styles: Slim, straight, high-waisted, bootcut, flared

Ships to: the US & International

Mother is a Los Angeles-based denim brand focusing on local ethical production. The brand creates all of its denim within a 14-mile radius of its design studio and works to upcycle fabric to reduce carbon emissions.

The brand also doesn’t use leather patches, so its denim jeans are vegan-friendly.

Although the brand is more expensive than others we’ve listed, you definitely get what you pay for with this brand, as the quality of their denim is fantastic and long-lasting!

Mother LA vegan jeans

4. DL1961

Womens vegan jeans by brand DL1961

Materials: Cotton, recycled fabric

Styles: Patch-free denim, bootcut, slim, straight, high-waisted, low waisted

Ships to: Worldwide

DL1961 is a brand that’s leading the way when it comes to sustainable denim production. The brand uses recycled materials to craft its designs, and a pair of DL1961 jeans takes only 10 gallons to produce, compared to the whopping 1500 gallons used by a regular pair of jeans.

While the brand’s women’s collection doesn’t feature any leather patches and are vegan-friendly, disappointingly some men’s styles still feature a leather patch.

model wears vegan bootcut jeans from brand DL1961

5. Warp + Weft

Warp and Weft vegan black jeans

Materials: Cotton, recycled water

Styles: Size-inclusive vegan denim, all jean styles

Ships to: Worldwide

For affordable vegan jeans, check out Warp + Weft. This sustainable brand uses eco-friendly production practices and sustainable materials to save water and energy.

Warp + Weft’s denim is high quality without the premium markups. Plus, the brand has many great size-inclusive on-trend styles, perfect for every body shape and size.

Warp and Weft mens jeans

6. MUD Jeans

MUD vegan jeans in white

Materials: Organic cotton and recycled materials

Styles: On-trend jeans, cropped, flared, straight, slim

Ships to: Europe

Mud Jeans is another 100% vegan brand creating premium sustainable jeans. The Netherlands—based brand brings us a collection of feel good denim staples that every closet needs.

The brand uses entirely animal-free materials, and are committed to using ethical production and sustainable processes.

Plus, Mud jeans have recently released a ‘lease’ service, which allows you to lease a pair of jeans instead of buying them.

Men's vegan jeans by MUD

7. Kuyichi

Kuyichi vegan denim

Materials: Organic cotton, Jacron patch, recycled materials

Styles: Men’s and women’s vegan denim

Ships to: Worldwide

On a mission to make the world a better place, sustainable fashion brand Kuyichi uses responsible materials like GOTS organic cotton grown without pesticides and recycled fabrics.

The brand scrapped its use of leather patches in 2016 and has since continued to use non-animal-derived Jacron patches in its vegan denim line.

Kuyichi offers an impressive selection of classic denim styles that are vegan-friendly.

Kuyichi vegan denim

Style Tip / For a laid back look, pair your jeans with a pair of vegan clogs or vegan cowboy boots, they’re the must have shoes this season.

8. ThokkThokk

Thokkthokk organic cotton denim

Materials: Organic cotton, 100% vegan materials

Styles: PETA-approved vegan denim, jeans, denim shorts

Ships to: Europe

ThokkThokk’s vegan denim collection is created ethically from GOTS organic cotton, grown without toxic pesticides.

The German brand aims to create its clothing sustainably by using certified natural fabrics, sustainable materials, and ethical production.

While ThokkThokk doesn’t have as many style choices as some of the other brands on the list, they shouldn’t be overlooked, as the brand creates a bunch of denim essentials that will fit effortlessly into your wardrobe.

Thokkthokk fashion brand

Unfortunately Levi’s jeans aren’t vegan friendly. Levi’s still continue to use a leather patch on their jeans.

Levis leather patch jeans
Example of a Levi’s leather patch.
Taken from the Levi’s website, the brand details that the patches used on its jeans is leather.

Yes, GAP denim is vegan, as the brand doesn’t use leather patches. However, as we consider GAP a fast fashion brand, we prefer to shop from smaller, more sustainable denim brands like Boyish, Warp + Weft, and Nudie.

Yes, Uniqlo jeans are vegan. However, we’ve only rated Uniqlo a sustainability score of 3/5 and consider it a fast fashion brand. Instead, why not shop from a more sustainable denim brands like Warp + Weft or Nudie.

If you’re following a vegan lifestyle, discover more amazing vegan brands in our recommendations on vegan heels, vegan shoes, vegan running shoes, and vegan comforters!

Bethany
Bethany

Bethany Worthington BSc (Hons) (she/her) is the Sustainable Fashion Editor and Co-founder of Ecothes. She has a passion for the environment, and a long love of all things clothing, and combines those two interests with Ecothes. In her free time she loves dancing, hiking in the countryside, and laughing with friends.

Articles: 197

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.