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Pseudo-Vegan Scarves

Monday, October 27th, 2008
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Cochineal Scarf

Apparently this Cochineal Scarf is vegan, and yet it is made with silk:

The vertical threads (warp) is vegan silk. The moths are allowed to emerge from their cocoons without being boiled, which is the practice in ‘normal’ silk production.

See, this is what I don’t understand. You don’t boil cows to get milk, and yet milk is not vegan. You don’t boil chickens. This sounds like a having cake and eat it too situation. If you’re going to call something vegan, it can’t come from animals. Period.

Via Creativadoration.

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5 Comments to “Pseudo-Vegan Scarves”

  1. Is a moth/insect an animal though? I didn’t know veganism frowned on using bugs too… What I don’t understand is how whether or not the moth was boiled alive makes a difference.

    Comment by Liz
    October 27, 2008 @     8:25 am

  2. Um, the other problem with this is that cochineal dye is made from ground-up bugs. So even if you were to accept the idea that tussah silk can be considered vegan, cochineal is definitely not vegan.

    Comment by mote
    October 27, 2008 @ 9:31 am

  3. lol yeah, I was going to mention that too… I suppose the artisan doesn’t claim to have a completely vegan scarf, so they can ground up as many bugs as they want, but the other stuff seems to suggest they are trying to be as vegan as possible. So it seems a bit weird to say you’re worried about a few silk worms but no cochineals.

    Comment by Eve
    October 27, 2008 @ 12:00 pm

  4. Insects are definitely animals (they’re not bacteria, protists, fungi or plants). This scarf is definitely not vegan. I am definitely confused about why they called this silk vegan.

    Comment by A
    November 6, 2008 @ 4:05 pm

  5. I was talking to a friend of mine two days ago who is vegetarian, and she explained that “vegan” means different things to different people. For “orthodox” vegans, absolutely no animal products are allowed, but some vegans will drink milk if the animals weren’t harmed and were still able to feed their calves. I’m assuming that since some chickens don’t have their eggs fertilized even when they are left to their own devices, eating those eggs would be fine to some vegans as well. She mentioned that road kill is kosher to some vegans, because otherwise it would go to waste. To which I say, “gross.”

    Comment by Eve
    November 6, 2008 @ 4:46 pm

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