Want to know how and why a successful model and MBA student Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart would ditch it all, go vegan, and dedicate her life to designing couture, eco-friendly, cruelty-free coats with her line Vaute Couture? We asked her.
Obsessed. You could definitely say that I am obsessed with vegan coats- specifically warm and adorable vegan coats. First it was finding them. Now it’s creating them.
Why? Why spend a year of 60-80 hour weeks, no income, my and my husband’s savings, quit my full ride MBA and modeling contract in Asia to develop a line of coats? I can barely sew and yes, now you can call me crazy. So let’s start with how I got here.
Modeling in Taipei three years ago, I finished reading all the books I had packed from the States (living with 8 sixteen year old European models can get lonely), and found the nearest secondhand bookstore. I picked up the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra. In there, I discovered the Law of Dharma- that where your unique talents meet the needs of the world is abundance, and your life purpose.
At the time, I was in what I now call my Period of Lost… after deciding not to follow the career on my college diploma I began the search & journey of finding a new path- wondering what I could be doing differently, what I should change, how to make myself good enough-better- and so on and so forth, driving myself mad and then I stopped. It took another trip halfway around the world (Hong Kong), doing something that I just kind of liked & wasn’t really that good at, to realize that who I’ve always been- who 6 year old Leanne was- (loves animals & strangers, starting things, and draws a lot) is who I could be now too. The path I needed was the one I was already on, I didn’t need to change to fit on someone else’s. And each step had its part: every challenge, tangent, love, loss, and friend, I could take all the things inside and create something unique to share. I was so scared and so sure. I couldn’t not do it. It was like love- full speed ahead.
So sheep. Have you ever met a sheep? Everyone loves sheep at first thought- so sweet, often the victim in children’s tales, the reason Lisa Simpson went vegetarian, definitely in the top 3 on that cute and cuddly animal list with baby seals and itty bitty chicks. So why the except wool deal? Why do so many vegetarians/vegans/animal lovers who would never wear leather, or eat meat, or drink milk, wear wool? And why the heck not?
I personally believe that animals are not ours for any reason. Animals have their own reasons for being here, for existing. I do not need to use their bodies to live my life, and in many cases I’m better off for not anyway. Okay but maybe you don’t feel that way- so why else not, right?
Here’s the deal. Wool is, for the most part, factory farmed, just like meat, eggs, and milk. This means all the awful cruel and disgusting cost cutting soul ignoring practices of factory farms for food are also the case for sheep raised for wool. I’ll spare you the details (if you’re part of the GirlieGirlArmy, then I think you know about factory farms.) But here’s the final slice- the sheep, raised for wool don’t go to a pasture to live out their life in the sunshine and grass once they’re done being productive. They are slaughtered. Yes- killed. For meat and/or shearling (skin). The wool industry IS the meat industry. This is the zinger.
I went vegan at 17 when I realized the dairy industry was the veal industry was the dairy industry. And hell no would I ever eat veal. So why in the world was I eating cheese for breakfast lunch and dinner? (hey, my dad grew up on a Wisconsin dairy farm and HE told me I ate too much cheese when I stopped, he was pretty relieved for my health.)
Now a sidenote- sometimes I’m asked why I don’t just use organic wool- well, besides the fact that I don’t believe in using animals for luxury or profit, I also have to mention why I created Vaute Couture- not to be a single conscientious business, but to push the industry towards solutions we can use to eliminate the need for animal fabrics in fashion. Sentient beings don’t fit well into the cost-equations of business because their sentient nature is never part of the equation to begin with- I aim to cut out the risk of cruelty entirely by developing new solutions that don’t involve using animals to begin with.
These Vaute Couture coats are proof that style and compassion go hand-in-hand, now available here for 30% off with code “GirlieGirlArmy”!
Going vegetarian then vegan was the first major decision in my life that was a no-brainer. There are some things that once you discover them, you recognize them, they’ve been a part of you all along, and you know they are who you are. Vegan isn’t about being perfect or what you can’t have, it’s about empowering yourself to choose what you support with your everyday choices. And how those choices add up.
Is it cool if I leave with three words I wish I told myself at 22? You are enough.
Let us each go out and make the world a better place in only the way each of us can.
Leanne is founder & creative director of Vaute Couture, a new vegan fashion house that she created to be a voice for the animals in the industry and push towards animal-free fabrics & processes. She spent a year developing the first line of high style & ethics & performance coats- now available here for 30% off (thru 10/27) with code “GirlieGirlArmy”. Leanne has been named 20 under 30 by VegNews Magazine for her animal activism from an early age. She is also a Ford model, MBA drop-out, and plays classical trumpet.
Couture Vegan Coat Otaku & Discovering Dharma With Vaute Couture