Is vegan fashion a step too far?

This week Anne Hathaway has come out and admitted to making the transition from leather to vegan substitutes so as to align her ethical beliefs with her wardrobe.

I've been a vegetarian for many years now but I do struggle with this.

Animal rights are close to my heart and I would never wear real fur or snakeskin.

However, more common materials such as leather are harder to escape from, especially when it comes to footwear and bags.

Granted my budget doesn't usually stretch to real leather items and there are plenty of convincing substitutes around, but I'm sure I own at least a few accessories and pairs of shoes made from leather.

The alternative is to source out vegetarian or vegan alternatives, but these are usually far more expensive, more difficult to find and not always very attractive, truth be told.

This is what Anne did when she stepped out on the red carpet of the Les Miserables premiere in a pair of strappy leather bondage boots.

Everyone would be forgiven for thinking that these were real leather, but in fact they were custom-made faux leather in tune with her vegan beliefs.

Since filming Batman The Dark Knight Rises the star has changed her dietary habits and even stepped out in a similar pair of gladiator dominatrix boots for the spring 2013 Tom Ford show.

According to Footwear News all of her character Fantine's shoes were bespoke vegan.

Costume designer Paco Delgado told the magazine: "[Hathaway]'s vegan, so we couldn't use any animal materials on the shoes for her character Fantine. We had to find very specific shoemakers to create lace-up boots and ankle boots."

This is certainly a lot of effort to go for but I envy her commitment to her ethical beliefs.

How far would you go to adhere to your morals?

Posted by Elsa Pienaar