9 Vegan Gloves Made For An Ethical Winter Wonderland
Temperatures have dropped in the Northern Hemisphere and you know what that means…time to look up the best vegan glove brands!
Finding sustainable gloves is one thing, but finding those that don’t leave animals out in the cold is another.
But there’s no need for you to remove your gloves and do the finger-numbing work.
We’ve done the hard work for you—shoveling through vegan convertible mittens and vegan leather gloves for men and women—to bring you this handy hand-warming guide.
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A Handful Of The Best Vegan Winter Gloves
Start with eka, an Etsy shop with cozy collections of organic and adorable chunky knit mittens.
Warm Paws’ vegan convertible gloves tick all the boxes: they’re warm, waterproof, and made from recycled faux leather.
The recycled materials used by Patagonia will keep you warm and dry in the coldest, wettest conditions.
Wondering what we look for in the best vegan winter gloves?
Pretend you’re at the ice rink and slide down to the end of the article to see how these brands were chosen.
The Full List Of Cruelty-Free Vegan Glove Brands
1. eka
About eka
UK-based Etsy shop eka caters to people who want to stand out in the crowd—while knowing that the environment hasn’t suffered as a result.
Several styles of stylish and soft vegan mittens are available for men, women, and kids.
This includes warm mittens on a string (so you don’t lose them in a snowbank!) to matching adult and children’s mittens.
eka’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
The best ethical vegan mittens from a sustainability perspective are those made with 100% organic cotton.
Others are made with 100% acrylic yarn, and while all vegan, we would stick to natural fibers if possible.
Supply chain & labor practices:
In most cases, the mittens are produced in shop owner Gilly’s home by Gilly herself—so if you’re looking for vegan gloves in the UK, these are it.
Some collections are produced in Auroville, an Indian fair trade township.
Green business practices:
All orders from Etsy are sent via carbon-neutral shipping and the platform is committed to net zero emissions by 2030.
Available: Eka
2. Five Wise Owls
About Five Wise Owls
What’s better than one wise owl giving you advice on how to shop sustainably?
Five of them!
Five Wise Owls was founded to provide much-needed choices for cellulose fiber knitters and offer “quality yarns for those who desire non-wool options at a reasonable price.”
In addition to hand-dyed Pima cotton yarns, this USA-based Etsy shop offers one pair of hand-knit vegan fingerless gloves with a foldback design that covers the fingertips when unfolded.
Five Wise Owls’ Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Soft and durable long-staple organic Pima cotton is what you’ll find in these gloves.
They’re custom-dyed in any colorway of your choice using plant-based fiber-reactive dyes.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Owner Julia handknits these gloves herself in her home in Texas, so these are perfect for those seeking made-in-the-USA vegan fingerless gloves.
Available: Etsy
3. Patagonia
About Patagonia
Patagonia has been prioritizing environmental sustainability since 1972, and they are a changemaker within the commercial fashion industry.
No matter the season, their sustainable outdoor clothing is by far some of the best.
Planning on having an epic snowball fight with the family this winter?
Don one of their sustainable coats and keep your wintery weapons warm with their vegan gloves for kids and adults.
They also have comfortable vegan mittens, if that’s more your speed.
Patagonia’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials
Patagonia uses 100% recycled polyester for the fabric of most gloves, including 100% recycled PrimaLoft® Gold Eco insulation for applicable models. It’s made using P.U.R.E.™ emission-reducing technology.
Those with palm reinforcements are made with 100% recycled nylon or synthetic suede.
Some may contain a little virgin spandex for stretch but all fabrics are bluesign®-approved.
Since the brand doesn’t specifically market its gloves as vegan, be careful to double-check the material makeup before purchasing—though all options currently appear to be absent animal byproducts.
Supply Chain & Labor Practices:
Check out the “Where It’s Made” section on each product page to learn where your gloves were milled and made (largely in Japan and Vietnam in this case).
These Footprint Chronicles attempt to provide as much transparency and traceability as possible throughout their manufacturing chain.
87% of garments are Fair Trade-certified.
Green business practices:
Patagonia is using 100% renewable energy in the U.S., and 76% internationally.
87% of the line includes recycled materials and 100% of the cotton is organic—and some is regenerative thanks to their piloting a regenerative agriculture certification.
They also provide extensive documentation on their sustainability, so you can keep track of where they are and where they’re going.
Community and charitable giving:
One of the most vocal brands for environmental justice, Patagonia has a long history of giving back.
Their Action Works program connects individuals to organizations fighting for environmental issues in their community, and Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard, co-founded the organization 1% For the Planet.
Most recently, Yvon divested all his shares in Patagonia to put towards fighting climate change, stating that “Earth is now our only shareholder”.
Available: Patagonia
4. Warm Paws
About Warm Paws
Sandra is the genius behind Warm Paws, a Quebecian Etsy shop with a small but unique selection of convertible vegan leather gloves for women and teens.
While the shop was “created for all animal-lovers,” we’d say it’s for any—and every—one who wants warmth and coziness that’s conscious and ethical.
The functional vegan convertible mittens have a fur-lined flippable windproof flap and are available in black, pink, and brown.
Warm Paws’ Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Warms Paws’ vegan convertible gloves feature a waterproof, recycled faux leather exterior and a soft faux fur sherpa on the inside.
Supply chain & labor practices:
There isn’t much information on who makes these gloves, so we’re reaching out directly and will update when we learn more.
Available: Warm Paws
5. Pudus™
About Pudus™
Named after the world’s smallest deer, the pudu, Canadian vegan glove brand Pudus™ has grown its product offering from slipper socks to other cozy accessories.
Pudus™ is PETA-approved, so you can enjoy your buttery soft hand wear knowing no pudu (or other furry friends) were harmed.
Pudus™ ’ Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Most of Pudus™’ gloves are made from polyester, woven to give a faux-cashmere feel.
Better still are their mittens made from 100% recycled materials—one pair uses 10 recycled plastic water bottles that would otherwise go to the landfill.
Supply chain and labor practices:
Pudus™ doesn’t provide information on the manufacturing of their vegan gloves. We’re reaching out to them for more details.
Available: Pudus™
6. Picture
About Picture
“Rise, protect, and share” is Picture’s motto. Their collection of outerwear, streetwear, activewear, and surf essentials makes all three possible.
The Certified B Corp supports those shreddin’ the gnar or shooting the curl—all while helping them fight climate change.
For tearing up the slopes, they have an impressive range of environmentally-friendly vegan gloves for men and women, which includes everything from vegan men’s texting gloves to vegan women’s waterproof gloves.
Each product description includes a ranking of waterproofness, breathability, and warmth.
Picture’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Most pairs feature 66% recycled polyester, with the remaining coming from virgin polyester and spandex. Others feature a 58% bio-sourced polyester blend and 42% recycled polyester.
The waterproofing comes from a non-fluorinated and biobased Teflon Ecolite™ water repellent finish.
Some gloves are made with goat leather or PU vegan leather palms, which isn’t our favorite vegan leather alternative. We’d opt for those with rubber palms instead.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Most of the brand’s manufacturing takes place in Turkey and Taiwan, where manufacturing partners adhere to the Fair Wear Foundation (of which Picture is a member) code of labor practices.
Where it makes sense to do so, garments are produced locally in France.
You can access both their factory locations and details and their Social Report on their site.
Green business practices:
Picture really paints the picture of what an eco-minded company looks like.
They transparently share their production’s CO2 emissions, much of which comes from Asian manufacturing partners and their reliance on coal and natural gas for electricity. They plan to help a few of these factories improve, through the addition of solar panels.
In addition, they have a Lifetime Repair Warranty, options to rent their clothes, and are reducing the size/number of polybags in use.
They even built their own plastic recycling machine!
Community & charitable giving:
Picture strives to have a positive impact by working with a variety of partners, such as Protect Our Winters and Low Tech Lab.
Available: Picture
7. bleed
About bleed
bleed was founded by a local skateboarder in the quiet German town of Helmbrechts. Early on, Michael Spitzbarth realized that “nature had already bled enough”.
That’s why the brand’s range of men’s and women’s apparel is 100% eco and fair.
This includes a pair of unisex vegan fair trade mittens, as well as everyday gloves and softshell performance gloves.
bleed’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
The Ecoknit gloves are made from 100% organic cotton, label included.
Only the Eco21 Active gloves feature synthetics in the form of 100% recycled polyester with a cork palm reinforcement and POLARTEC® fleece lining.
The SYMPATEX® laminate shell is bluesign® and OEKO-TEX certified. They’re water-repellent and windproof, without requiring PFOAs, PTFEs, or PFCs.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Most products are made in Portugal, with some production in China, Tunisia, Croatia, and Germany.
The gloves and mittens are produced in China, by a Fairwear and GOTS-certified factory, using raw materials also sourced there.
Green business practices:
bleed ships products plastic-free and, in Germany, climate neutral.
Emission reductions and offsets cover other areas of production and transportation, via climate action projects and efforts to localize the supply chain.
They offset some of the manufacturing and transportation of their ethical vegan glove factory through ClimatePartner.
Community & charitable giving:
Through limited-run Cooperation products, they give a portion of these sales back to organizations like Liquid Surf, flustix (the first plastic-free product certification!), PETA, and Surfrider Foundation.
Available: bleed
8. Vaude
About Vaude
We applaud Vaude and their outdoor activity-focused line of men’s, women’s, and kid’s ethical outdoor wear and accessories specifically designed for hiking, cycling, or whatever your outdoor activity of choice.
That includes a huge selection of gloves, from lightweight vegan bike gloves to warm vegan gloves.
That means most are not only warm but waterproof. A special coating also makes it easy to use a smartphone or camera.
Vaude’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Vaude’s best vegan gloves are made from partially recycled polyester, partially recycled polyurethane, and (if insulated) partially recycled PET Primaloft fill.
Others contain exclusively virgin synthetics, which we recommend avoiding—though many of these styles are at least manufactured using bluesign®-approved practices.
For any men’s and women’s vegan waterproof gloves, the water resistance is all thanks to an Eco Finish that’s manufactured without the use of fluorocarbons (PFC).
Two styles use Merino wool. Be sure to check the material overview for each pair because some also contain non-textile parts of animal origin.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Vaude prioritizes safe working conditions by reducing their use of toxic substances.
Their supply chain partners adhere to the brand’s Code of Conduct and are annually audited by Fair Wear to ensure living wages are provided.
Green business practices:
Since 2012, their headquarters have been fully climate neutral, and now their entire production is as well, as per their My Climate Neutral certification.
Half of the current product line is made primarily from recycled or bio-based materials. By 2024, 90% of products will be. More about this in their Sustainability Report.
Community & charitable giving:
Old Vaude garments can be shipped back to be donated to FairWertung.
Available: Vaude
9. Rawganique
About Rawganique
Whether you’re looking for vegan organic cotton gloves or want to hear your fingers with hemp, Rawganique is a natural choice…literally!
The Swiss Alpine liner mitts are designed to pair with their oversized Alaska fleecy soft vegan mittens for extra warmth.
Don’t forget to check out their sustainable slippers and sustainable rugs to keep your other digits warm, too.
Rawganique’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Rawganique’s mittens are made of either 100% organic hemp or organic cotton, with a touch of elastic in the cuff that could be removed to compost.
For something purer still, check out their vegan organic cotton finger gloves which exclude the elastic to make a latex-free, polyester-free, and PVC-free product for those who can’t handle (get it?) chemical contact of any kind.
Supply chain & labor practices:
All Rawganique products are manufactured in either the USA or Europe, in small “sweat-shop-free” workshops.
The EU and USA are also where their hemp and cotton come from—which means we can rest easier knowing they’re actually organic, unlike GOTS-certified questionably “organic” cotton sourced from India or China.
Green business practices:
Rawganique specialized in products free of all chemicals and synthetics (aside from very sparing elastane that is easily removable at end-of-life).
Their all-vegan natural fibers are either undyed, unbleached, or dyed using natural dyes.
Available: Rawganique
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How We Found The Most Environmentally-Friendly Vegan Gloves
You may not feel fashionable when dressing for frigid temperatures, but that doesn’t mean that gloves aren’t part of the slow fashion train (or… ski lift?).
That’s why we used our sustainable and ethical fashion criteria to find these ethical vegan gloves that are practical and planet-friendly.
Materials:
Materials make the vegan mittens… in more ways than one.
We always look for sustainable fabrics, but in this case, we cut out a few contenders (like ethical wool and ethical cashmere) and focused on just vegan fabrics, like organic cotton and hemp fabric.
Recycled synthetic fabrics are a good second choice, but in general, we still try to avoid some of the usual, less-sustainable suspects often found in vegan shoes and vegan handbags (namely PVC and PU).
Given the purpose of gloves, waterproofing measures are sometimes necessary, especially in vegan ski gloves. Since these are usually chemicals, we look for ones free from fluorocarbons (PFCs and PFOAs).
- Certifications: OEKO-TEX® 100, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), Fair Trade, Global Recycle Standard (GRS), bluesign®, Recycled Content Standard (RCS)
Supply chain & labor practices:
Addressing labor concerns prevalent in the fashion industry, many of these brands transparently share their factory details, impressive codes of conduct, or certifications that ensure their supply chain claims aren’t a bunch of greenwashing.
These are best when all paired together because, though certifications can be helpful, even top-tier ones like B-Corp are susceptible to questionable accreditation.
Always do your own research, too, to ensure your fair trade vegan mittens are actually fair trade.
- Certifications: B-Corp, Fair Trade, Fair Wear Foundation, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP)
Green business practices:
For the greenest vegan gloves on a white winter day, look for brands that are going the extra green mile by utilizing carbon offset programs, sustainable or minimal packaging, renewable energy, localized supply chains, and options to repair or recycle their goods.
Community & charitable giving:
While most of these brands were either small or more focused on ethical supply chains, we were pleased to see some donations to environmental causes, tree plantings, and distribution of returned or excess goods to people in need.
Final Thoughts On Vegan & Cruelty-Free Gloves
Sustainable fashion is important—even if your number one fashion goal of the day is to simply survive sub-freezing temperatures.
Equipped in a winter-ready outfit with vegan winter gloves, fair trade hats, and sustainable scarves, even three feet of snow won’t be able to stand in your way.
Hopefully, this list answered any questions you had about where to find vegan gloves. While these brands certainly deserve support, be sure to check out online thrift stores and other secondhand options first for your snow-day accessories.
Then, like a snowball, toss this article over to friends and family who are also trying to fight frostbite and climate change this winter season.
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