Animal-Friendly Guide to Vans x Harry Potter Collab

6/11/2019

When we at the Protego Foundation heard about the new Harry Potter x Vans collab, we were all hesitantly excited. We were excited because, duh, Harry Potter shoes!! But we were hesitant about that excitement because Vans has been using more and more leather in their products over the last few years. Now that the new Harry Potter collab is out, we are sad to see so many of the shoes have been made with cow skin. To help our fellow creature-friendly witches, wizards, and magical people shop compassionately, we have created a handy guide below to explain which shoes you should wear to your next Wizard Rock show, and which ones you should avoid like a bad case of dragon pox.

The Problem with Leather and Suede

Leather and suede are made from the skin of sensitive and feeling animals like cows, dogs, cats, and other living creatures. These animals are no different than the magical ones we have come to know and love like Crookshanks, Fang, nifflers, and Dougal the demiguise. Every year, the global leather industry kills more than 1 billion animals for leather, with most of it coming from China or India. Cows, whose skins are used for leather the most often, are extremely sensitive and loving creatures who develop complex relationships, can perform difficult tasks, and even mourn the deaths of their friends. And, turning cow and other animal skin into leather involves the use of dangerous chemicals like mineral salts, formaldehyde, and coal-tar derivatives, which increases the chance for cancer in low-income workers at the tanneries.

Check out the below shoes that you should avoid because they are made with animal skin, and the shoes you should spend all of your galleons on because they are vegan!

DON'T BUY

VANS x HARRY POTTER SK8-HI (Gryffindor colors)

Why: Made with suede.