Vegan shoes are in vogue.
Ethical fashion is gaining attention and momentum and it’s marvellous.
But when you are looking through racks of vintage dresses and dungarees it’s easy to forget about your feet!
These ethical brands have invented some sensational shoes for men and women and vegan options abound.
Walk into winter in sustainable support and style, wearing these eco creations. Some are office friendly, others are adapted for adventure. Each pair makes cruelty-free footwear fashionable and fun in their own way.
You Need These 5 New Ethical Shoes In Your Life
Check out the pebble team’s autumn faves for ethical and/or vegan shoes. It’s time to put the flip flops back in the wardrobe and embrace proper shoes once again.
1. Raum
Raum footwear is really designed to help you get your feet back on the ground.
This applies not only to the fact that the shoes are made from all natural materials. Raum also run a copper rivet through the soles of their slip ons, so that you experience optimum electron uptake, as if you were barefoot.
Vegans beware, these shoes are made from leather. However, Raum use pieces that are bi-products of the food industry. They are about small, handmade collections that follow in the footsteps of generations of traditional European craftsmen. These shoes are:
- Durable and flexible.
- They contain no harmful chemicals or synthetic materials.
- Their manufacturing process reduces the environmental waste, water and pollution that is typical of the footwear industry.
- Made by passionate, highly skilled and trained artisans, 10% of whom are Syrian refugees.
These flats have a simple, earthy essence. They come in a range of colours, and showcase the skilled stitching of the artists who sewed around their souls.
Men and women can walk into the grounded future for roughly £125.
2. Rens
Rens are running headfirst into a new generation of vegan shoes. They poured the frustration they felt with the waste produced by the fast fashion industry into technology. This mission led them to produce groundbreakingly stylish and sustainable, plant-based sneakers.
If you get a buzz from wearing them, it might be because Rens have constructed their #coffeeshoe from a combination of old coffee grounds and recycled plastic.
These materials have been magicked together to be:
- 100% waterproof, thanks to their coffee infused liner. It creates an impermeable seal, which protects but remains breathable.
- Odour free. No one will know that you just ran a marathon in these kicks. Coffee yarn is naturally odour-absorbent and antibacterial, so your feet will stay fresh for the shoes’ entire life-cycle.
- Light, versatile, comfy and suitable for wearing with or without socks, whatever the weather.
These ethical sneakers look simple and stylish, but have a unique, futuristic feel to them too.
Guys and girls can stroll (or swim) in Rens for around £70-400.
3. Ponto Footwear
Introducing you to the ultimate multi-occasion shoe. Ponto Footwear present the qualities of a trainer, in the design of a traditional dress shoe. You can go from the boardroom to the bar (and back again) all in Ponto.
The Pacific is Ponto’s latest style of ethical shoe. Here’s what’s great about it:
- The shoe is made from recycled leather trimmings, rounded up from tannery floors. This is material that would have been destined for landfill.
- The bottom of the pacific is made from algae based foam, and the recycled foam insole is lined with a biodegradable odour killing Tencel fabric. It is light, breathable, sweat resistant and adapts to fit your feet.
- Ponto have removed many toxic practices from their manufacturing methods and produce the Pacific using recycled water. So, purchasing one pair is now the equivalent of returning 120 bottles of filtered water back to the environment.
- For every pair sold, Ponto Footwear donate a portion of their proceeds to innovative non-profits who are helping purge the oceans of plastics.
This brand is built for consumers who love the planet they walk on, but who work hard at hectic jobs that hold them back from thinking about this every day.
So, whilst their supportive souls will enable you to run between meetings, these shoes will also show the earth you care.
Lace yourself into a pair of Pontos for between £80 and £160.
4. VIVAIA
VIVAIA vie not to contribute to the environmental mess the fashion industry is in. Instead, they make season-less wardrobe essentials from sustainable materials. You can walk from one season straight into another wearing these ethically produced, stylish shoes.
Their style is timeless, classic and elegant, as is the array of bright and tasteful colours they come in.
Here’s what you’ll be stepping in to:
- VIVAIAs are sustainably made using a combination of natural and recycled materials.
- PET plastic water bottles are turned into thread to knit the shoes together
- A natural latex foam derived from rubber resin makes them extra comfy to wear.
- The shoes also have carbon-free rubber outsoles that are flexible, odour and fungi resistant.
- Your new shoes will show up in a box made from recycled cardboard which can be reused several times.
These elegant eco shoes cost around £80-90.
5. Tropicfeel
Tropicfeel is the ultimate travel shoe that’s 100% PETA approved. When you set off on an adventure that involves hiking, swimming and sightseeing, the last thing you want is a rucksack full of footwear! These versatile, vegan sneakers are the answer.
Tropicfeel’s shoes fashion you with the look of a daily shoe, the sturdy soul of a hiking shoe and the comfort of a walking shoe.
Here come the soft sustainable bullet points:
- Tropicfeel drink from the crowdfunding fountain in order to streamline their production and avoid falling foul to the fashion industry traps.
- They prioritise transparency in their supply chain, only working with nominated suppliers and forging relationships with them.
- By partnering with Cosmo and Bloom foam, Tropicfeel have ensured their 100% plant-based shoes are formed from recycled and eco materials.
- 1% of this brand’s sales goes back into supporting the wild. They put this amount towards keeping natural wonders alive so that future generations can enjoy them on their travels.
Travel in these trainers for £78.
