The Paris-based brand may be 16 years old, but it’s never been hotter. Its sustainable processes — which are applied to all styles — include the use of organic, fair-trade cotton sourced from a Brazil co-op, wild Amazonian rubber (purchased at a premium so suppliers can avoid deforestation), vegetable-tanned leather and recyced plastic bottle mesh for soles.
For fall, the Brazilian designer debuted an entire capsule of sustainable shoes that came complete with a materials guide to educate his customers on the eco-friendly details of its heels and sandals. This lace-up bootie has recycled cotton embroidery, chrome-free tanning leather, and an insole made of recycled cardboard and cellulose fiber from reforestation. And it looks just as glam as his regular collection.
The British designer has long led the way in making sustainable fashion that also looks great — which is why she is now a special adviser to parent company LVMH on eco initiatives. Meanwhile, her footwear continues to grow. This pre-fall sneaker sandal uses Econyl, a regenerated nylon that keeps the material out of landfills.
Designers have been clamoring to collaborate with this Paris-based boot brand, which focuses on how to use new shoemaking technologies on natural rubber. The signature Gao boot uses that rubber as well as natural cotton. Last year, Both partnered with Clergerie; for fall, they worked with Monse.
The fair-trade company works with a Nicaraguan community to make natural rope-style sandals. They are also cruelty-free, which has led to a new partnership with PETA. Its new sailing knot sandal will be released at the end of the month, with proceeds benefitting the organization.
The ugly sneaker may have a new life in this 7-year-old brand. Lanvin alum Mats Rombaut uses plant materials like apple leather, a sustainable skin recovered from industrial waste of the apple juice industry, on his shoes, which are hand made in Portugal. The upper on the Boccaccio sneaker, shown here, uses upcycled posters from the brand’s showroom.
One of New York’s sustainability godmothers, the designer has long used local supply chains and zero- waste design. For fall, she partnered with Re:Style to rework car seat leather. All footwear is made by hand from one family-owned factory in Italy.
The newly launched sandal brand is 100% made of polycarbonate-urethane (PCU) plastic, a new material from China that is created by air blowing polyvinyl chloride (PVC). This “eco-PVC” has inherent sustainability characteristics made from rock salt and oil and contains less carbon than most major thermal plastics. PCU is also easily recyclable.
Founder and designer Aurora James works with Mexican artisans on
her Whiskey lace-up huaraches, using traditional leather weaving techniques on leather that is locally sourced from animal byproducts. Pieces are vegetable-dyed and dried in the sun before being cut and woven into shoes.
To get back to its heritage of recycled materials (its eponymous founder specialized in them), the Italian brand released two new sustainable women’s styles, including this sneaker made with eco-friendly calfskin. Last year, it debuted its Sustainable Thinking Exhibition at its Florence museum.
Last year shoe veteran Jean-Michel Cazabat launched the vegan label with Theory and Donna Karan alum Tina Bhojwani and investor Alvertos Revach. The brand uses only certified vegan materials on all compo- nents, including solvent-free resins. It offsets its production impact by 110% by working with projects like Green Tree Reforestation.
Antolina designer Mariela Schwarz Montiel just launched her second brand this spring, a collection of flip-flops made from natural Madagascar rubber that is blended with other all-natural ingredients like seaweed, roses, egg shells and plant oils. The thongs are also enriched with natural essences like rose and lily of the valley — so they smell great.
Thought it’s been a goal of many, the designer was the very first to stage a technically carbon-neutral runway show last September for her spring ‘20 collection. It included the Danae flatform, a sandal made of natural cotton rope and cork, a responsibly harvested organic material.
Chloé alumni Paule Tenaillon and Marine Braquet launched their own brand last year focusing on evergreen styles (only two collections a year), using local manufacturing (all components come from a 25-mile radius in Tuscany) and incorporating deadstock material when possible.
One of the contemporary market’s most influential sustainable brands, the L.A.-based label by Yael Aflalo launched shoes in 2019. The current -season June wedge is made from 100% chrome-free embossed leather. The brand uses natural materials like bark or plant tannins for vegetable tanning.
The sneaker brand’s new RE:new capsule uses discarded scrap pieces left over from traditional leather production. The recycled fibers of the scraps are combined with synthetic fibers in a weaving process called water fusion. After finishing and pigmentation, the end result is a single material, whose process is said to reduce environmental impact by up to 80%, by cutting back on the usual levels of water, consumption and energy that goes into traditional leather production.
