What vegan leather means, and how to look after it

Every Roulens bag in vegan leather is polyurethane, a plastic coating laid over a fabric backing and pressed with a grain. It looks and handles like leather. It is not leather, and there is no animal hide in any of our bags.

The word and the rule

Leather words on bags are not a free-for-all. The Federal Trade Commission keeps a set of guides for leather and imitation leather products, and the list of what they cover reads like our catalog:

ladies' handbags, shoulder bags, purses, pocketbooks

Federal Trade Commission, 16 CFR Part 24, Guides for Select Leather and Imitation Leather Products, § 24.0 Scope. Read 21 September 2026.

The core of the guides is one sentence about anything that looks like leather and is not:

If all or part of an industry product is made of non-leather material that appears to be leather, the fact that the material is not leather, or the general nature of the material as something other than leather, should be disclosed.

Federal Trade Commission, 16 CFR Part 24, Guides for Select Leather and Imitation Leather Products, § 24.2 Deception as to composition. Read 21 September 2026.

That is why we write vegan leather or PU leather and never plain leather. The guides list examples of acceptable wording, from not leather to vinyl coated fabric, and vegan leather is the industry's plain-language cousin of them.

What PU does well

• It is light. The Tassel Wallet Crossbody weighs about a pound, and the RFID Camera Crossbody 0.88 pounds.
• It wipes clean. A soft cloth dampened with water takes off most marks.
• It comes in colors hide rarely does: sky blue, moss green, blush. Count the shade names across the range and you get 27.

What PU does badly

• It does not patina. Hide darkens and softens with years of use. PU stays the same until it starts to wear.
• It wears where it rubs. Like any coated surface, the first wear shows at the corners and along the edge of the strap.
• It does not breathe. Pack nothing damp into the main compartment and zip it shut overnight.

Looking after it

• Wipe it with a soft cloth dampened with plain water, then let it dry at room temperature.
• Skip solvents, alcohol wipes and leather conditioners. Conditioner is made for hide and sits on top of PU as a film.
• Keep it out of a hot car and off a radiator. Heat softens the coating.
• Store it stuffed with paper so the front keeps its shape, and hang or lay it flat rather than folding the strap tight against the bag.

Two Roulens bags are not PU at all. The Quilted Mini Gym Set is a quilted, cotton-filled fabric with a waterproof PVC pocket inside, and the Canvas Zip Tote is heavy canvas. Canvas softens and creases with use, and a spill on it wants a spot clean rather than a wipe.

Sources for this guide

• Federal Trade Commission, 16 CFR Part 24, Guides for Select Leather and Imitation Leather Products (§ 24.0 Scope, § 24.2 Deception as to composition). Read 21 September 2026.