'Vegan fashion' is not an oxymoron

They've given up eating burgers. And bacon. And anything else that used to have a pulse or came from something with a pulse.

But just because they're vegan doesn't mean they're unfashionable -- only more selective. If an animal was harmed to make a material that goes into clothing, that material is off limits. So wearing leather isn't an option. Neither is wool from little lambs eating ivy -- cruelty to the animals in factory farm conditions is a concern. Silk, which destroys the worm to harvest the thread, is a no-no. And so, of course, are fur and fluffy down.

For years, dressing vegan meant nubuck Birkenstocks and hemp sack dresses or message tees with slogans such as "Cow Hugger." Options were limited, especially for shoes, accessories and cold-weather clothing. But thanks to a growing crop of clothing lines that allow style-conscious individuals to align their attire with their cruelty-free beliefs, it's now possible to defy the Berkeley stereotype. Vegan and high fashion? They're no longer mutually exclusive terms.

"I didn't want to be the brand that only hippies wear," said Elizabeth Olsen, founder of olsenHaus Pure Vegan footwear in New York. OlsenHaus, which has been in business one year, makes strappy stilettos, ultrasuede ankle boots and colorful ballet flats using a mixture of manmade, plant-based and recycled materials. These are shoes that could easily stroll a red carpet and raise eyebrows -- not so much for their ethics but for their stylish ingenuity. (OlsenHaus is sold locally at Fred Segal.)

Olsen, 36, has been a vegetarian since she was 15 and "saw some PETA literature on factory farm animals and animal testing" that prompted her to "have a conniption." She was a creative director for Tommy Hilfiger until she decided to step into the vegan void with a shoe line that filled the gap between style-free polyurethane flats from Payless ShoeSource and $800 heels from Stella McCartney, the most high-profile vegan designer.

"We try to show people you can still be really fashionable and not wear animals," said Jackie Horrick, owner of the Alternative Outfitters vegan boutique in Pasadena. "We don't carry the very earthy . . . what a lot of people think when they think of vegan."

As the store's glancing reference to a more famous "outfitter" would suggest, the looks at this petite boutique are more urban than homestead, with its puffy, faux-fur trimmed jackets, cork-soled sandals, pleather handbags and message tees that read "I eat carbs" and "Real women wear fake fur."