Matt And Nat Review
Matt And Nat Review
The fashion industry is one of the biggest industries in the world. People spend billions of dollars buying the most fashionable clothes and accessories. However, just like everything else, we have been hurting nature and the animals that live in it. There is a sad fact we need to confront.
We are killing and abusing animals just for the sake of satisfying our needs. The huge fashion industry includes diverse branches such as clothing, bags, accessories, wallets, etc. Right now, there are many disadvantages associated with the fashion industry. However, nobody is listening, and killing animals for being used in the fashion industry continues.
However, not everything is negative, fortunately. A few decades ago, a small group of people started becoming vegetarian. What does it mean? They realized that killing animals to provide humans with food is a wrong idea. So, they changed their diet and stopped eating animal meat. Right after, millions of other people joined this. So, vegetarians only eat plant-based materials. Also, animal products, such as eggs, milk, etc., are allowed.
Then, people realized that being vegetarian is not enough to stop this animal-cruelty madness. So, another group of people started getting stricter on themselves. How? A small group of vegetarians left the community of people who eat plants and animal products. They said that they were not going to eat meat or any other animal-related products. So, vegan people can only eat plant-derived materials. They will not eat meat, egg, dairy products, honey, etc.
How Was The Industry Of Vegan Fashion Started?
In the previous section, I explained that a small group became vegan. They said it is ferocious to kill animals and make them suffer to produce human food. Vegans even took a step further and said veganism is not just about food. It is a lifestyle. They stated that vegans must not wear any cloth made from animal products.
These include silk, leather, fur, etc. For many years, people have considered animal-derived clothes very luxurious. Vegans, however, said all humans must be banned from buying and wearing animal-derived clothes and accessories. Wearing these types of clothes is against animal rights. Studies show that they can feel pain, joy, love, misery, and many other emotions just like humans. So, they have to live and enjoy their lives.
A Solution For Having A More Peaceful World For Animals
You might wonder how humans can produce clothes, bags, and accessories without animal products. Perhaps, you would say there are no substitutes for fur, silk, and leather, right? However, I'm here to argue differently. There is a solution to this problem. We have a new phenomenon called vegan fashion.
Vegan fashion tries to produce clothing items, bags, shoes, and many other products, so there is no need to kill animals and use their skin and other parts of their bodies.
So, have you decided to give up buying clothing items and other products made out of animal skin? Do you want to know more about vegan fashion? If yes, I'm here to introduce one of the biggest companies producing vegan clothing and accessories.
However, perhaps, you are not convinced yet. You might say we don’t need to shift into vegan fashion. You are wondering what all those negative effects of the fashion industry are.
So, let's continue our article by introducing some of the environmental effects of the fashion industry. You might change your mind when you discover how bad the fashion industry is for nature and the environment. 
Environmental Impacts Of The Fashion Industry
Believe it or not, the fashion industry is one of the worst sectors of our society, responsible for the deprivation of natural resources and causing animal misery. Did you know that it is the world's second-largest pollution source? The bigger the fashion industry becomes, the more dangerous its effects on the environment get.
The first step for becoming a fan of the vegan industry is to be convinced that there is something terribly wrong with the fashion industry. The fashion industry causes eight major problems.
They include
- Water pollution
- Water consumption
- Microfibers in our oceans
- Waste accumulation
- Chemical addition
- Greenhouse gas emissions
- Soil degradation & desertification, and finally,
- Rainforest destruction.
Here, we are going to mention these problems briefly. 
1) Fashion & Water Pollution
Textile factories are greatly related to the fashion industry. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, untreated toxic wastewater is discharged directly into the rivers. These substances often include lead, mercury, and arsenic. These heavy metals are very harmful to aquatic animals. Since we are eating some of these animals, we are more likely to get exposed to these dangerous toxins.
Another impact of the fashion industry on aquatic ecosystems is using too many fertilizers for cotton production, eventually ending up in aquatic boundaries and causing contamination. Let me leave you with these unfortunate facts. Nearly 200k tons of dyes are lost to effluents every year. Also, 90% of wastewater in developing countries is discharged into rivers without treatment.
2) Fashion & Water Consumption
Lakes and rivers are getting dried out just because of high demands from different branches of industries. The fashion industry has one of the biggest demands. It requires 200 tons of freshwater per ton of dyed fabric. Also, cotton is one of the most important plans in the fashion industry as we use it for producing fabrics.
Unfortunately, this plant requires lots of water. This is another sad fact for you. You need as much as 20,000 litres (almost 5.3 US gallons) of water to produce just one kilo of cotton. 
3) Fashion & Microfibers In Our Oceans
The more we buy clothing items and accessories, the more microfibers we discharge into oceans. The problem is that aquatic organisms start digesting these materials, and gradually bigger animals are exposed to these toxic materials. In a way, we are introducing plastic into our food chain, which has severe consequences for our health too.
4) Fashion & Waste Accumulation
Each year, millions of families throw away their old clothing items and buy new ones. As a result, millions of tons of old clothing items are piled up and cause many problems for nature. Only 15% of our clothes are donated or recycled. Also, the huge accumulation of clothes has been responsible for 5% of the waste in our landfills.
5) Fashion & Chemicals
You need various chemicals for fibre production, dyeing, bleaching, and wet processing of each garment. Cotton farmers are in great danger because they must apply dangerous pesticides to produce more cotton. Many of them die as a result. Using too many chemicals will pollute both soil and water.
6) Fashion & Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The fashion industry produces nearly 10% of global carbon emissions. Production, manufacturing, and transportation of millions of garments bought each year contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Also, fossil fuel is greatly needed for producing synthetic fibres such as polyester, acrylic, and nylon.
7) Fashion & Soil Degradation
Overgrazing of pastures and the massive use of chemicals are responsible for the massive global degradation of soil and threaten global food security. It is also contributing to global warming.
8) Fashion & Rainforest Destruction
We need wood-based fabrics such as rayon, viscose, and modal. As a result, we need to cut thousands of endangered and ancient forests and replace them with plantations of wanted trees. The loss of forests will ruin the ecosystem, and we will soon witness large-scale deforestation.
So, do you want to minimize all these problems caused by the normal fashion industry? The best way to do this is to try vegan fashion out. So, let's see what the benefits of vegan fashion are. How will it stop all those negative consequences of the fashion industry? Let's find out.
Benefits Of Vegan Fashion
There are seven main benefits associated with vegan fashion. Here, we are going to mention them briefly.
1. Vegan Materials Are Becoming More Popular In The Fashion Industry
More people are aware of animal welfare and rights. As a result, the vegan fashion market is getting bigger. People know that by switching to vegan fabric alternatives, all industry standards will also be improved. Let's talk about this a bit. Here are some reasons for shifting from the normal fashion industry to the vegan one.
2. Animal Welfare
In 2006, the animal welfare act was established to protect animal rights and welfare. We use animals materials for fashion materials. Also, we continue doing the test on animals which is cruel. For example, the UK has the strictest laws against buying products that violate animal rights. Animal cruelty will be minimized by using vegan fabrics from plant materials.
3. Vegan Materials Look Great
You might think that nothing will be replaced by animal products used in the fashion industry. No, you're mistaken. Vegan materials look great. So, from the aesthetic point of view, vegan materials are very competitive—for example, many people like fur, which comes mainly from fox skin.
Foxes are tortured and then painfully killed to provide such material. However, there is an exactly similar product in the vegan fashion industry. And surprisingly, normal people cannot see the differences. Only fashion experts might be able to say which is vegan and which is from animals.
In addition, you should know that processing vegan material is much easier and less time and energy-consuming than normal materials. For instance, you can colour and tone vegan leather much faster and more efficiently than normal leather from animals. The diversity of colours used in vegan leather is more than normal.
4. Vegan Alternative For Most Animal Materials
We said about fur and leather. Now, there are good alternatives for them. However, fur and leather are not the only materials. In fact, for many animal-based materials, we have vegan options. As an example, seaweed is a good material for fashion garments. It is healthier too. Linen is another good source for producing vegan clothing items. Wood, soy, and hemp are other good sources of materials for our vegan fashion industry.
5. Vegan Materials Are Cost-Effective In The Long Run
There is a misconception about plant materials. People think that plant materials are weaker than animal ones. However, it is not true. So, you can benefit financially from buying vegan clothing items because they last longer than other materials. For example, vegan leather is one of the strongest materials in the industry.
6. Impact Of The Environment
We are going to consume less water by shifting to vegan materials. Also, less pollution will be produced by the vegan fashion industry. Accordingly, wild animals will be saved. Finally, less synthetic fabric will be discharged into aquatic ecosystems, and all aquatic animals stay healthier.
MATT & NAT
- The company's name represents material and nature (MATT & NAT).
- The company was established in 1995 in Canada.
- Their motto is “live beautifully.”
- Social responsibility, excellence, inclusiveness, integrity, authenticity, and, of course, love are things they care about.
- They have never used leather or any other animal-based materials in their designs.
- They are always committed to keeping the sustainable and eco-friendly aspects of their products at the highest.
- They are researching recycled materials such as nylons, cardboard, rubber, cork, and windshield resins.
- Also, linings come from 100% recycled plastic bottles. They have been recycling more than 9 million plastic bottles since several years ago.
- They are active in the US, the UK, Japan, Germany, and Australia. They have over 800 shop stores.
What Types Of Material Does MATT & NAT Use?
- They use a variety of high-quality vegan materials.
- PU, which stands for polyurethane, is one of these products. It can be degraded in nature and doesn’t harm wildlife.
- PVC is another harmful material used in normal vegan fashion. However, the company is using PVB, which is polyvinyl butyral. This product is 100% recycled windshield glass resin.
- Their collections are made from products that are fully recycled.
- Nylon and rubber are two of the most sustainable materials in the world.
- Recently, the company has been testing fruit skin fibres as an alternative.
- The company uses linings made from completely recycled plastic bottles.
MATT & NAT Shop
When you compare MATT & NAT products to other brands, you will see that this company offers the most diverse products with the highest number of categories. The categories include new arrivals, collections, handbags, accessories, footwear, outwear, knitwear, and men's fashion.
Each category comes with a wide variety of products. For example, footwear includes boots, flats, heels, sandals, sneakers, and waterproof. Or in the category of outerwear, they offer coats, jackets, puffers, raincoats, and trench coats.
MATT & NAT Review
So, what do people think of MATT & NAT? Are they happy with their purchase? Here, we will mention some of the points made by customers.
- Joanne M. has given 5 stars to MATT & NAT. she has bought several bags from it and is satisfied with the whole collection. She believes bags are stylish and can be used for years.
- Another customer, Yuk Kay Y., says that the quality of materials used in the MATT & NAT backpack is amazing. She also loves the shape of the backpacks.
- Another customer named Alexandira is not happy with the company. She has returned the product, but the company hasn’t refunded her back yet. She is not pleased which MAT & NAT support as the company has answered her on the phone only once, even though she has called them four times.
- Blake, another customer, enjoys the boots he bought from MATT & NAT. His boot has lasted more than two years.
- It seems that MATT & NAT bags are great! Maeve says that her favourite bag company was MATT & NAT.
- Another customer named Arjola thinks similarly.
- Shannon thinks that the bags are great concerning their simplicity and classical attributes. She mentions that the colouring is vibrant, which makes the bags eye-catching.
Other Vegan Fashion Brands As Competitors Of MATT & NAT
These days, there are many different companies and fashion brands that produce vegan clothing items. Here, we are going to mention some of them. They include Armedangels, People Tree, Meli Bianco, Angela Roi, and Collection & Co. Let's get started.
Armedangels
This is one of the most famous brands in the world. They produce sustainable and regenerative materials. They think that protecting the environment is not an option. It is a must that everybody should follow. The company only uses organic cotton, organic linen, organic wool, recycled cotton, and many more.
Also, the company takes care of working conditions for all employees. The company knows that the process of producing clothes is exhausting. So, the workers must have access to proper conditions. It doesn’t matter where they are coming from. They are all equal.
Armedangels Products
The company has a nice categorization. They have clothes for both men and women. For women, the brand's categories include new arrivals, denim, tops & T-shirts, pants & skirts, knitwear, sweats, underwear, blouses, leggings, jackets & coats, accessories, and masks. For men, it has new arrivals, denim, t-shirts, pants & shorts, sweats, shirts & polos, underwear, knitwear, jackets & coats, mask, and accessories.
People Tree
This company is a pioneer in sustainable, fair-trade fashion, established in 1991. They follow all ethical and environmental standards from start to finish.
Their products are very stylish, thanks to professional designs and exclusive prints. They take into account traditional artisan skills such as hand weaving, hand knitting, and hand block printing. Fair wages, good working conditions, transparency, and gender equality are some of the features of this company.
People Tree Products
Their category includes new in, women, dresses, underwear, and essentials. Their products are very diverse. For example, they have new face masks, dresses, trousers, socks, knitwear, jumpsuits, jackets, tops, skirts, nightwear, accessories, activewear, underwear, jewelry, and gifts for the women category.
Melie Bianco
They are famous for producing cruelty-free vegan clothing items. They have face masks and face shields. Also, in their shop store, you can have three categories. They include features, handbags, and accessories. Featured are new arrivals and last chance. Handbags are crossbody bags, belt bags, totes, shoulder bags, top-handle bags, and tech bags. So, if you are interested in buying bags, it offers you the most diverse bags. For accessories, you can get wristlets and masks.
Conclusion
People have gained awareness about their surroundings. They know that their actions might have severe consequences for nature. Millions of people know that killing animals and eating them is ethically wrong. They confess that we should not kill animals just for our pleasure. It doesn’t only include our food habits. It consists of the fashion industry too.
It is cruel to kill animals because we need their skins for our clothing items. Nowadays, many companies and brands have shifted from the normal fashion industry for many reasons. It is not only cruel to animals. It is also destroying nature and our natural resources.
In this review, we introduced one of the biggest companies producing vegan fashion clothing items. It is called MATT & NAT.
- First, we asked what was wrong with the normal fashion industry.
- Then, we reviewed all the advantages of vegan fashion clothing items.
- After that, we introduced MATT & NAT and explained its features.
- Finally, we mentioned some of the competitors of MATT & NAT company.
They have replaced many animal-derived products with 100% plant-based material. I hope you have found this article interesting. If you are interested in the vegan lifestyle, don’t worry. We will come back very soon with new content about it. Take care.
I trust you enjoyed reading the article on the Matt And Nat Review. Would you please stay tuned? There are more blog posts to come very shortly.
JeannetteZ
Your Opinion Is Important To Me
Thoughts? Ideas? Questions? I would love to hear from you. Would you mind leaving me your questions, experience and remarks about the Matt And Nat Review in the comments section below? You can also reach me by email at Jeannette@LivingTheVeganLifestyle.org.
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Environmental Reasons To Go Vegan
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The Definitive Guide To Vegan Fashion & Style
