Can Fashion Be Vegan?

I recently converted to being a vegan (is it called "veganism"?), and I'm having an inner conflict inside me, not in terms of food, but in terms of fashion. By definition, being vegan means you do not use or consume any animal byproducts, whether it be through your diet or through your clothing/accessories/shoes, etc. I've been trying to reconcile my use of leather products and the fact that I'm not being a very good vegan by having these products. I've had these products way before I decided this change in lifestyle, and some, not most, carry some sort of personal value so it's been particularly hard to simply get rid of these. 

This change has actually made me realize that it's really a shame how there are less than a handful of designers out there, specifically menswear designers, who do not practice non-leather, or vegan, fashion. This has actually made the change for me harder since most of the leather products I own are more practical. Take shoes, for instance. As much as I want to wear sandals and sneakers all the time, there are certain occasions that call for a much dressier look. What I don't understand is how far advanced we are technologically as a society that we haven't created a dress shoe that does not use any leather material. It sounds ridiculous, but yet, the reality is that we have depended so much on this inhumane resource that we have become comfortable with the antiquated idea of using animal skin as part of our everyday life. 

Like I said, I, myself, still use leather. But by no means do I support it. However, I believe it's about time we evolve ourselves from using this resource and therefore challenge designers to be more creative and be more innovative in their designs. We have the capabilities and the technology to be able to use alternative materials that achieve the same look as leather. It's really a matter of us, too, as consumers to be able to support a more humane process of both fashion and of lifestyle. It's time to be a little bit more conscious of what we wear, don't you think?