Young Soles
Children’s shoes and boots made in Europe, mostly in leather, with a small vegan line.
Red tag: Young Soles sells leather, suede and wool.
Young Soles makes most of its children’s shoes from leather and suede, and lines some winter styles with wool, so the brand carries a red tag. Its vegan styles are synthetic and take the brand penalty only.
- Rubric, on published evidence0
- Young Soles sells animal-derived materials−50
- Animal-derived materials in the range itself−50
- Brand score−100
How the score breaks down
How we know
Desk research, 10 October 2026. Young Soles makes children’s shoes in Europe, and almost all of them are leather or suede, with wool linings on some winter styles. So the brand carries a red tag, and 124 of the 138 pieces in its feed are held back from our Shop. Its small vegan line (Rosie, Pearl, Sonny, Sidney and Penny) is synthetic leather, and those pieces stay listed with the brand penalty. The brand does not say what the vegan styles are lined or glued with, and its own product tags for two Penny colours say “leather” lining, so we hold those back too. It names no factory or tannery. It runs a take-back scheme with £10 credit for any worn pair.
Sources
Every source we relied on, checked on . Pages change: if one of these now says something different, tell us and we will re-check.
Right of reply
We are sending this assessment to Young Soles and inviting a response. Anything it tells us, and any change to the score that follows, will be published here with its date.
Questions people ask about Young Soles
- Is Young Soles vegan?
- No. Young Soles sells leather, suede and wool, so its range is not vegan and it carries our red tag. Any animal-free pieces we list from it score 50 points below what the same evidence would earn from a brand that clears both gates.
- Does Young Soles test on animals?
- We found no evidence that it does. It has not yet given us a signed no-testing declaration, so we cannot confirm it either.
- What is Young Soles's Fashion Without Cruelty score?
- −100. The rubric gives it 0 of 100 for what it publishes, then 50 points come off for selling animal-derived materials and a further 50 for the materials themselves. Red scores always sit below zero.
- Can Young Soles earn the Good badge?
- Not while it sells animal-derived materials. A red brand cannot be verified, so no fee can change its score.
Think we have this wrong? Write to hello@fashionwithoutcruelty.co.uk with the evidence. We reply within ten working days and publish a correction where we were wrong. How we rate.