Stepping into the world of veganism can feel daunting – but it doesn’t have to be. Sublime introduces five essential brands and products to kick-start your journey, covering everything from your wardrobe to your morning cup of coffee
Glebe Farm Food
Where does your plant milk come from, and what is it made of? Most oat milks are shipped from far away, meaning that even though you think you’re helping the planet by choosing non-dairy products, transporting them still takes a toll on the environment. Glebe Farm is proud to be the only UK farm growing and processing gluten-free oats into porridge flakes, flour, and PureOaty oat milk; by purchasing locally from British farmers, you’re cutting down your food miles by miles, and by purchasing from Glebe Farm, you’re supporting natural production powered by solar panels and biomass generators.
Oats are a natural superfood, a wholegrain source of vitamins, minerals and soluble fibre which can help lower cholesterol and support a healthy gut. They’re also low GI, which helps your body avoid spikes in blood sugar. But where many milk alternatives are made from a concentrated ‘base’, Glebe Farm ensures PureOaty products are as natural as possible, using only oats, water, sunflower oil and a pinch of salt. And they’re as diverse as they are delicious, with PureOaty Barista perfect for café-style lattes or cappuccinos, and the new PureOaty ‘Creamy & Enriched’ fortified with calcium and minerals designed to supplement those switching to a vegan diet.
PureOaty oat milk available at Holland & Barrett, Amazon, Morrisons and Co-Op
Road Angel
A space dedicated to curating sustainable fashion and lifestyle, turning spiritual journeys into limitless realities, Road Angel is the first to present plant-based leather fashion made on demand, curating an everyday wardrobe for a sustainable future.
Unveiling 2022 with a vision of lasting style, Road Angel debuts a new fashion alliance to accompany the courageous and determined: Golden Armour, the trench statement, and Black Knight, the vest. The former is tailored with limited edition Desserto cactus leather in gold, offering a natural and beautifully soft Rockport texture, a relaxed and oversized look. Black Knight is designed for comfort, with a stunning, stardust effect emanating from its fabric. Adjustable straps on two sides create volume for the chest and hips, too.
Made with luxurious vegan leather, the pieces are organic, breathable, and perfectly cruelty-free. Desserto leather is resilient in hot and humid conditions, durable and reliable – a well-protected piece, if kept with love and respect, can last up to ten years. And with every piece made to order, from pattern-cutting to sewing, every moment of its creator’s day and every piece of cactus is respected.
Outside the studio, Road Angel brings sustainable lifestyle to the contemporary art scene, working with Studio 83 and VZOW in presenting the Beyond Future Art Prize, Asia’s first art prize dedicated to sustainable living, inviting creative talents from around the world to share their visions of a sustainable future.
Watson & Wolfe
This British brand designs and produces hand-crafted accessories using next-generation materials. Watson & Wolfe have a big ambition: to become a global leader of accessories for eco-conscious, vegan, and sustainability-focused consumers, using low impact materials in a carbon efficient, ethical and cruelty-free supply chain.
Launched in 2018 as the first in the UK to offer luxurious, vegan products especially for men, from wallets and card holders to belts and travel accessories, Watson & Wolfe scooped a PETA award for Best Men’s Accessories Brand in both 2019. Due to popular demand, they soon delivered their first dedicated collection of handbags and purses for women, for which they were recognised in the Marie Claire Sustainability Awards.
Their core range is made with an Italian, corn-based alternative to leather, derived from renewable resources with linings made from post-consumer plastic bottles – to date they have diverted more than 35,280 plastic bottles from landfill. The brand works with the most detail-oriented, ethical suppliers and craftspeople and all items are made within small factories employing people who are paid a fair and living wage and whose skills and experience are valued. They also work with the reforestation scheme One Tree Planted to offset their carbon footprint, so far planting over 3,130 trees around the world.
Brand founder Helen Farr-Leander previously worked in the luxury leather industry and was pivotal in growing Aspinal of London from start-up to £10m business. While researching the development and direction of her own business, she switched to a plant-based lifestyle and business model after fully realising the appalling impact of the global leather industry. Today, Watson & Wolfe tests emerging next-generation materials such as cactus and fruit-based leathers, and with an array of exciting launches in the pipeline – including cork weekend and wash bags, gloves, laptop bags, satchels, and phone bags – it’s one to watch.
Vegware
This year marks MacLeod’s first full decade at Vegware Products Inc, the global specialist in plant-based, compostable foodservice packaging. From student intern to Sales Director, helping the company grow into the global brand it is today has been an extremely rewarding experience. ‘Since 2012 I have been helping catering companies, restaurant chains and the hospitality industry with packaging options and waste management solutions throughout the UK, UAE and, most recently, the USA. I moved to Southern California four and a half years ago to set up the US office for Vegware,’ MacLeod says.
Now, Vegware is a team of close to 100 people around the world, each person passionate about reducing single-use plastic and diverting waste from landfill. Vegware is made from plants using renewable, lower carbon, recycled, or reclaimed materials, and designed to be commercially compostable with food waste where possible. Compostables are a practical solution for single-use food-contaminated disposables, allowing foodservice to achieve their sustainability goals. Working closely with world’s largest contract caterers and distributors, Vegware is sold in 70 countries, with distribution throughout Europe, the Middle East, South America, and the Caribbean, and operational bases in the UK, USA, Hong Kong and Australia.
In her free time, MacLeod participates in beach clean-ups and assists the local leadership and sustainability academy run by the city council.
ELLA & WITT
Looking for stylish, comfortable, and sustainable sneakers and boots? Ella & Witt’s range is fairly produced in Portugal and 100% vegan, made using plant-based and recycled materials.
Fashion consumption with a clear conscience through significantly less environmental impact from CO2, CFCs and solvents, and, above all, without animal suffering – that is the path that Ella & Witt takes. Their goal is to show fashion lovers – and not only vegetarians and vegans – that there are beautiful, cruelty-free shoe alternatives. There are now enough plant-based materials that work well as an alternative to animal leather, such as PETA-certified corn leather, that demonstrate that sustainability and fashion go hand-in-hand. All materials used by Ella & Witt are produced in the EU, too.
It all started in 2017 in Cologne, Germany, when Birgit and Torsten Lasar saved a cow named Witt from slaughter. Since then, Witt lives happily in a sanctuary farm, together with her friend Ella and many other rescued animals.
It was clear to both founders that they would like to develop a new shoe brand without animals having to suffer and die for it. After more than three years of development, Ella & Witt launched in April 2020, with its sales supporting the work of the Weidetiere Zons farm and countless other environmental protection projects.
LUCKYNELLY
As the designer for ethical fashion label LUCKYNELLY, Rochlitz has combined luxury with sustainability to demonstrate how extraordinarily beautiful vegan products can be.
Established in 2012, supported by PETA, and proudly part of the sustainable designer branch of Berlin Fashion Week, LUCKYNELLY is a pioneer in the market for sustainable handbags and accessories. Rochlitz follows through the process from start to finish in her personal studio, creating unique designs and using only the most innovative sustainable materials, be that her newly-developed vegan leather made from cabbage, CABBTEX, or BERRIESTEX, which is made from strawberries.
But how did she get here? In 2004, Rochlitz graduated with a diploma in sustainability inspired by fairytales. Around this time, fast fashion was booming, leaving Rochlitz overwhelmed and at a loss as to what a designer could do to leave a positive impact. She chose the story of The Little Red Riding Hood to conceptualise slowing and calming down – she encouraged people to think of the times they spent listening to their grandmothers reading stories and to focus on the most essential things in life– family, meeting friends, cooking together and calming down so that they could flee from all things fast, including fashion.
And so the idea for LUCKYNELLY came to be, the brand’s name itself inspired by Rochlitz’s Bearded Collie Nelly and her Lionhead bunny Lucky, who were also the muses for the decision to use exclusively vegan materials.