What a vegan sneaker is
A vegan sneaker is a shoe made without materials of animal origin: no leather, no suede, no animal-derived finishing. The ACBC sneakers gathered on this page are all men's, with uppers in vegan leather and recycled materials. Vegan leather is a polymer-based composite spread over a textile backing: it reproduces the look of leather but does not come from tanning, and for that reason it behaves differently both on the foot and in cleaning.
The most concrete difference is the fit. A leather upper gives and moulds itself to the foot over the first weeks of wear; vegan leather gives very little, so the size you try on is the size you keep. It is worth trying it at the time of day when the foot is most swollen, and anyone with a high instep should consider half a size up straight away, because the shoe will not widen with use.
Vegan and recycled are not the same thing, even though they often appear together. Vegan states what is not in the product — no material of animal origin — and concerns the composition; recycled states where the raw material comes from, that is from something already used and reprocessed rather than from something new. A shoe can be vegan without containing anything recycled, and it can contain recycled material while still having an animal-derived lining or glue. When both claims appear, as they do here, two distinct pieces of information are being read, and the individual product page remains the place to check them.
Care, on the other hand, is simpler than for a leather upper: a damp cloth and a neutral detergent are enough, and neither nourishing creams nor bristle brushes are needed, since they have no effect on a synthetic. To compare these sneakers with the rest of the men's range, start from the men's sneakers page, where the shoes are grouped by shape and material.
