A couple months ago I contacted a number of shoe companies requesting a list of their synthetic products for this shoe guide. Admittedly, I am taking their word for it, but the following shoes detailed are the synthetic lines of each company who supplied specific lists. For the purposes of this guide I did not request them to send along shoes that were made with non-animal glue because, frankly, most shoes are probably made with animal glues. It is one of those unfortunate circumstances akin to animals being used in our car tires, sidewalks, etc. etc. It’s a frustrating, but seemingly unavoidable compromise we have to make for the time being. Also, if you are shopping at a local store, make sure you double check the materials used in the manufacturing of the shoe instead of relying on any supplied guides. This guide might be of more use to you if you are doing your shoe shopping online.
The following are vegan-friendly product families. According to inov-8, only 2 of their shoes use leather for materials.
FELINE
FELINE W
GECKO
GECKO W
LIGHT AMPHIB 3 M
LIGHT AMPHIB 3 W
TECHAMPHIB 3 GRAPHIC W
TECHAMPHIBIAN 3
TECHAMPHIBIAN 3 W
3D Fastpacker mid gtx®
3D Fastpacker mid gtx® W
Authentic gtx®
Authentic gtx® w
COSMIC 2 GTX® W
Explorer GTX®
Explorer GTX® W
WINGS SKY GTX®
WINGS SKY W GTX®
EXIT PEAK MID 2 GTX®
EXIT PEAK MID 2 GTX® W
Synapse
Synapse Mid
Synapse Mid W
Synapse W
X ULTRA GTX®
X ULTRA GTX® W
XA Pro 3D MID 2 GTX(R)
XA PRO 3D MID GTX(R) 2 W
X-OVER
X-OVER W
XTEMPO MID GTX®
XTEMPO MID GTX® W
X-TIANA MID GTX®
X-TRACKS MID GTX®
X-Ultra
X-Ultra W
RX STRAP K
TRAX MID WP K
XA PRO 2 K
XA PRO 2 WP K
S-Fly
S-Fly Mid
S-Fly Slip
S-Wind Inca
S-Wind Inca W
RX BREAK
RX BREAK W
S-LABFellcross
Speedcross 3
Speedcross 3 CS W
Speedcross 3 W
Speedcross 3 CS
Spikecross 3 CS
XA Comp 6
XA Comp 6 W
XA Pro 3D Ultra 2gtx®w
XA PRO 3D ULTRA 2
XA Pro 3D Ultra 2 gtx®
XA PRO 3D ULTRA 2 M+
XA PRO 3D ULTRA 2 W
XA Pro 5
XA Pro 5 W
XR Crossmax Guidance
XR Crossmax Guidance CS
XR Crossmax Guidance CS W
XR Crossmax Guidance W
XR Crossmax Neutral
XR Crossmax Neutral CS
XR Crossmax Neutral CS W
XR Crossmax Neutral W
XR Mission
XR Mission W
XT Wings 2
XT WINGS 2 GTX®
XT WINGS 2 GTX® W
XT Wings 2 W
XT Wings S LAB 4
XT Wings S LAB softground
MR9500, MR7500, MR1906SC, MR1226SR/SB, MR1064SR/CU, MR1012MC, MR905LW, MR883CU, MR850ST, RT801MU, MR773GG/GB/BR, MR760ST/SR/SB, MR759SR/BW, MR740TR/BY, MR740SR/BLK/BB, MR730BS/GG, MR663WSR/WSB/GSR, MR520WSB/SSB/BS, M587NV, M498WND/GR, MT910OR/GT, MT876OR, MT813AT/GR/OD, MT625BR/GB/GO, MT572BY/GO/GR, MT461BB, MT100GR/BK, MO1320GT, SM921BG/NVWomen’s Running & Outdoor:
WR9500, WR7500, WR1906SC, WR1226WB/SG, WR1064SP/CU, WR1012MC, WR905LW, WR883CU, WR850ST, WR817MC, RT801WU, WR773GB, WR760ST/SR/KM, WR759BN/CS, WR740TR/GB, WR740BS/BP/SO, WR730LS/CB, WR663WSO/WGB/GBP, W587WB, WR520WSB/SSP/GSP, W498WND, WR27GB/SB/BP, WT910GT/OR, WT876OR, WT813AT/GR, WT625SB/GO/GB, WT572BB/PK, WT560BB, WT461GB, WT100GR/BK, WE060TX/ME, WO1320GT, SW921BB/GR
Men’s Cross Trainers:
MX7516WS/GR/BK, MX1210GR, MX1011WN/BK, MX841BK/SL, MX757WS/WB/BK
Women’s Cross Trainers:
WX7516SB/WT/BP, WX1210TR, WX1011WB/SP, WX812GL/BP/BB, WX710WS/BK/SL
Men’s Walking:
MW1200WN, MW846WN/BK, MW811WT/BK/BE/VW/VK/VB, MRW760WN, MW660WT, MW615GB, MW559WL/WN
Women’s Walking:
WW1100GG/BS/SB, WW850GC/GP, WW1442SB, WW1200WT, WW846WB/BK/KM, WW811WT/BK/BE/VW/VK/VB/SO, WRW760WB/KM, WW660WT, WW615KM/ST, WW559SL/WB
Men’s Tennis:
CT1004W/BK, MC900WT
The style that fits your criteria the best is the Green Silence. You can find more info on our website. Our green room on our website will also have more information on our overall sustainability efforts. We are also working on a more comprehensive report that we will publish on our website before the end of the year.”
Saucony promised a response, but I have yet to hear back from them.
Hmmm, so vegan-friendly shoes are still considered to have animal glue in them? If you have any info at all on non-animal glue shoes please let me know. It’s a struggle even finding leather-free shoes sometimes where I live but am determined to find something!
Thanks an awful lot for this! I’m an ‘absolute beginner’ & was having a hard time looking for shoes without leather in them! France definitely isn’t Vegan Heaven, but now I have an idea what to look for!
Great guide! Seems like Brooks and Salomon are the most responsible of the manufactures. What shoes do you use?
For what it’s worth, I run in Adidas (varying models depending on the type of running), but I also have a pair of salomon Speedcross, which have now turned into terrible winter running shoes. My preferred trail shoe, however, is the Saucony Peregrine.
Vibram Bikilas are better than ALL of these in my opinion. Barefoot running is the way to go.
Wow – this is just what I’ve been looking for! Thank you for putting it together.
Most of the shoes by Vivobarefoot are 100% vegan.
Just wondering why in the new balance listing you said that although they aren’t completely vegan, that wouldn’t be a concern for these listings. Why wouldn’t their lack of vegan-ness be a concern? Especially on a site called runvegan?
I addressed this in the intro to the page. I was stating that, due to the difficulty of tracking glue sourcing, and lack of alternatives, MOST (if not all) of these shoes will use animal glue, just like animals are used in asphalt, car tires, etc. etc. etc. New Balance was aware enough to state that their shoes are not “completely vegan”, in the most purist sense, due to the animal glues, but as I stated previously, I wasn’t taking into account the use of animal glues in this list or else there honestly might not be a list at all! Thanks for the consideration.
I’m not convinced that most of these shoes will use animal glue. Animal glue is kinda crappy – it breaks down quickly over time and pva synthetic glues are usually better for commercial uses. It’s worth asking though, because we are writing off places that actually make vegan products, while I prefer it be part of their philosophy I’m generally okay with vegan being vegan by default.
I realize wikipedia isn’t the greatest source in the world but:
Today, animal glues are sparsely industrialized, but are still used for making and restoring objects, paintings, illuminated parchment manuscripts, and other artifacts.[6] Gelatin, also a form of animal glue, is found in many contemporary products, such as gelatin desserts, marshmallows, and pharmaceutical capsules.[15] It is also used to reinforce sinew wrappings, wood, leather, bark, and paper.
This adhesive is mostly used as glue, sizing, or varnish, although it is not as frequently used as other adhesives because it is water soluble. Other aspects, such as difficulty of storage in a wet state, requirement for fresh raw materials (the animal skin cannot be rotten or grease-burned), make this product more difficult to find and use. Factories now produce other forms of adhesives, as the process for animal glue is complex and tricky to follow.[16] Animal glues will also darken with age and shrink as they dry, giving them the potential to harm wood, paper, or works of art. Too much handling and too many changes in temperature or humidity could cause further harm.[7] Currently there is controversy into the production and use of hide glue, particularly because most animal glue industries prefer using cattle and horses and thus encourage the slaughter of these animals. Some companies, such as those in Canada, still produce animal, hide and hoof glues from horses, even though the slaughter of horses in the Western world is seen as a negative influence. Recently, animal glue has been replaced by other adhesives and plastics, but remains popular for restoration.
BTW, thank you for all your hard work on these project. I didn’t mean to come across snarky. This list was very helpful to me, and I ended up getting a pair of New Balance shoes and I really like them.
I realize the manufactures often time don’t know what they are using when you contact them (which is insane to me). Most likely (I would guess) they are switching between chemical glues though and not animals ones.
I’ve had quite a bit of luck over the years tracking down shoes that contain no animal products, including glues. More wide-ranging info is available on the UK’s Vegan Runners website. See the link below:
http://www.veganrunners.org.uk/articles/vegan_running_shoes_and_trainers_1398.html
What a great list, thanks you. I asked Salomon online to give me a list, and they gave me your link. As a vegan it is a great challenge to find shoes.