From Cows to Apples: My Journey in Sustainable, Vegan Footwear

When I first founded Turf, I was excited to merge two lifelong passions: animals and a love for great shoes. I’ve loved animals for as long as I can remember, and I've always been involved in animal welfare in one way or another. While I eat a vegetarian diet, I’ve always applied a vegan approach to the rest of my life - how I dress, what I buy, and the values I support. All my bags and shoes are vegan, and you won’t catch me anywhere near a down-filled duvet or jacket either. In my late teens, after working at an iconic Upper East Side shoe shop in New York city called French Sole, I began questioning something that felt oddly unquestionable at the time: why did every shoe have to be made of leather, and come at the cost of animals?

Only in recent years have scientists and material innovators truly begun developing next-generation alternatives to replace leather. Long before starting Turf, I found myself thinking about how these materials could be applied to footwear - and what problems they could solve, not just for the planet, but for animals.

The materials I’m talking about are vegan and circular by design: bio-based leathers like apple skin (a by-product of the beverage and jam industries), Piñatex made from pineapple leaf fibers, grape skin derived from wine industry waste - and post-consumer plastics reclaimed from land and sea that now look and feel like leather. Vegan shoes have been around for a while, but combining vegan materials with real sustainability is still surprisingly new.

Applying these next-generation materials to footwear means rethinking traditional shoe-making methods. It isn’t easy, and it hasn’t been straightforward. But the value is bypassing animal agriculture entirely, which translates to reducing water use and emissions, and supporting circular systems by giving waste streams a second life.

First, a little context. Growing up vegetarian in the 70s and 80s was lonely. There was no internet, very little reliable information, and almost no vegetarian or vegan products. My parents panicked about what I would eat or where I would get protein. They genuinely pictured me surviving on lettuce, possibly on the brink of starvation. At the time, being vegetarian felt impossible. But I was determined as I just couldn’t reconcile my love for animals with eating their bodies. That conviction, formed early on, became the foundation for everything I do today.

The 1990s brought the internet, and with it, an emerging vegan community. For the first time, I realized I wasn’t alone. People were asking the same questions - where to shop, how to feel full, and which restaurants offered more than a token roasted cauliflower. Together, we found answers. Since then, I’ve watched the movement grow and mature: supermarkets now have plant-based aisles with so many options, coffee shops offer dairy alternatives (Oddly Good is still my go-to…hello vegan lattes, YeeHaa!), and beauty brands proudly label products “cruelty-free.” First introduced by Muriel, Lady Dowding in 1959 and later brought into the mainstream by Anita Roddick and The Body Shop, cruelty-free became a concept consumers could finally trust - supported by certifications like Leaping Bunny.

And, you guessed it, the cruelty-free movement is no longer limited to food and beauty. Tesla launched its first mass-produced fully vegan car in 2012, using no leather in the interiors, and by 2017 made vegan leather standard across many models. BMW began offering vegan car interiors in 2023, and Mercedes-Benz introduced a “Vegan Package” for the new GLC with EQ technology that same year. Even Apple confirmed in 2023 that it would stop using leather across all product lines. Mind blowing, right?! This is massive proof that leather-free materials are moving into mainstream industries, and have the potential to dismantle factory farming on a global scale.

For decades, leather has been the benchmark for quality footwear. Turf challenges that standard. Although, moving the industry away from leather is incredibly difficult. Many suppliers and consumers still believe leather is a harmless by-product of the meat industry, when in reality it is a major driver of factory farming under appalling conditions, with devastating environmental consequences. Around 70 percent of the world’s leather comes from countries like China, India, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, where animal welfare regulations are minimal or non-existent. Animals live in cramped, brutal conditions, and slaughter practices are horrific. Globally, roughly 1 billion land animals are killed every year for their skin. Leather production also drives deforestation, water and land pollution, and the tanning process contaminates soil and rivers with toxic chemicals. Yuck. Choosing vegan alternatives should not be a nice-to-have - it is an essential, and 'cruelty-free' should really be part of any company's sustainability program. Turf proves this is possible. Our ballet flats, hand-crafted with apple-skin uppers and recycled-rubber soles, are not only beautiful but can outperform leather shoes any day. These next-generation materials are soft, breathable, and high quality, and they’re evolving faster every day.

The challenge is bigger than most people realize. The facts are sobering when you know that consumers are at the heart of change, yet vegan demand is low. While most people say sustainability matters, behavior tells a different story. In the US, only 38 percent of consumers consistently buy sustainable products, and in Europe, sustainable purchases fell from 53 percent to 46 percent between 2022 and 2024. Awareness of cruelty-free and vegan options beyond food and beauty is even lower. Many consumers are misled by brands that misuse terms like “sustainable” or “eco-friendly” for marketing, without real accountability. This overuse erodes trust and slows progress, leaving genuinely ethical innovations under-supported. In a crowded market, brands like Turf - challenging conventional ideas of sustainability and championing vegan materials - must re-educate consumers that ethical design can be just as beautiful, and desirable.

I’ve also been inspired by other pioneers in sustainable, vegan footwear. Rothy’s, for example, turns post-consumer plastics into stylish, high-quality shoes, proving that sustainable materials can be commercially viable and desirable. They’ve grown as a company from women shoes to men and now accessories! They have opened many retail stores, which is wonderful to see.  Yet, most vegan brands are not a success story, no matter how many followers they have and how they appear to be killing it.  The fact of the matter is that consumers aren’t prepared to prioritize ethics over familiarity, convenience or price point. Style and comfort matter first, and price point thereafter.

Sustainability isn’t just about small gestures. It’s about investing in innovations that can truly change the world at scale, even if that change doesn’t happen in our lifetime. Every conscious purchase - whether it’s a latte with soy milk, cruelty-free skincare, fitness wear made from botanic fibers like Eucalyptus (hello, Tripulse!), or a pair of everyday flats (cough cough, Turf) - is a vote for a kinder, more sustainable future. Change is slow and ongoing, but we need to reach a place where compassion lies at the heart of every decision, for humanity, for our planet and for the animals that share this home with us.