Vegan leather bags span an enormous quality range. The same price point can get you something that falls apart in six months or something that lasts years with daily use. The difference isn’t always visible in product photos, which makes knowing what to look for before you buy genuinely useful.
Here’s how to assess quality vegan leather bags and what to pay attention to when you’re comparing options.
Start With the Material Description
Not all vegan leather is the same material. PVC, polyurethane, microfibre, and plant-based alternatives like apple or cactus leather all sit under the vegan leather umbrella but behave very differently.
PVC is the lowest-grade option. It tends to be stiff, cracks at flex points over time, and has a surface that looks and feels artificial. It’s often used in very cheap bags and rarely holds up beyond light occasional use.
Premium PU, polyurethane, is the industry standard for quality vegan leather bags. It’s substantially softer than PVC, more durable, and ages more gracefully. A bag described as premium PU or soft PU is a meaningful step above a generic vegan leather label.
Handle It If You Can
Physical handling reveals things photos can’t. Quality PU should feel soft and supple, not rigid or hollow. Press it lightly and it should give without feeling like you’re pressing cardboard wrapped in plastic.
Flex the material gently at a fold point. It should move without resistance and return to shape without obvious stress marks. Poor quality material either resists flexing or shows stress marks immediately, both of which indicate it’ll crack at that point over time.
The surface texture should be consistent. Run your hand across it and the texture should feel even without areas that feel more plastic-like than others.
Look at the Stitching
Stitching is one of the best ways to tell how well something was made. The fact that the stitching is even and consistent all over the bag shows that it was made with care. If the stitching looks rushed, has loose threads, or is uneven at the handle attachment points and strap hardware, it means that corners were cut.
Pay particular attention to stress points. Where straps attach to the bag body, where handles meet the top of the bag, where zip ends are secured. These are the points that fail first on poorly made bags and the stitching here should be the most reinforced, not the most casual.
Check the Hardware
Hardware weight and finish tell you a lot. Quality hardware feels substantial when you hold it. Lightweight, hollow-feeling buckles and rings are often the first thing to fail on a bag, either structurally or cosmetically when the finish chips.
Zippers should run smoothly without catching. The zipper pull should feel solid. Test any magnetic closures by opening and closing them several times. They should engage cleanly without requiring significant force.
Interior Construction Matters
The interior of a bag is often where quality shortcuts show most clearly. Lining should be properly attached at all edges without bubbling, peeling, or visible gaps. Interior pockets should be cleanly stitched. Card slots should have enough structure to hold cards without being so tight they’re difficult to use.
A bag with a beautifully finished exterior and a poorly finished interior is usually telling you something about the overall production standards.
Strap Versatility as a Quality Indicator
Quality bags typically come with multiple strap options. A detachable crossbody strap alongside fixed handles, or both shoulder and crossbody lengths, indicates the designer has thought through how the bag will actually be used. Single-use strap configurations are more common in lower-quality products.
Strap hardware should be the same finish as bag hardware throughout. Mismatched finishes suggest components from different sources assembled without attention to the overall product.
Black Caviar Designs is an Australian-owned brand based in Sydney. Free shipping on orders over $100. Afterpay available at checkout.
