I'm wearing synthetic leather NIKE's right now
There are MANY 'name brand' athletic shoes (like Nike) that are made from only synthetic leather, that look and feel just like leather. I think the reason is because they are lighter in weight, but I don't care I'm just happy they have them! I recently discovered them when I was shopping at Academy, because they list what the shoes are made of. If the type of material is not listed, you can tell by looking at the cut edge of the fabric: synth leather looks spongy inside. Some shoes use both synth and real leather so be sure to check all the seams. When in doubt, sometimes the smell test works. Happy shopping!¿ The effect of buying leather products is no different than when¿ killing animals for food. If you're doing it, you're part of the¿ problem. Of course every little bit helps, and you might be LESS¿ of the problem, but...¿ And as for the difficulty of finding non-leather alternatives, I¿ haven't bought leather shoes in 10 years...so many non-leather¿ sneakers are made for casual daily use, and trashy stores like¿ Pay-Less regularly offer an abundance on non-leather¿ "dress" shoes for low prices. It's vanity and laziness¿ that cause animal rights supporters to break down and buy¿ leather ones...¿ And as someone says below, you can buy non-leather Docs, and¿ there are also places in the States that specialize in¿ non-leather shoes (there's one in NYC I'm thinking of, though I¿ don't know the name).