Veja is one of our most sought after brands here at Father Rabbit, with a gorgeous range of sneakers that everyone wants their hands on, and feet in! The french brand Veja's range of footwear embodies a minimalistic look and feel, but behind the scenes and in production they are a brand with a lot of good stuff going on that we had to share with you. In this blog post we thought we would let you know why we and so many others love our footwear range from Veja.
Veja founders Sébastien Kopp and François-Ghislain Morillion believe in creating a positive chain with their products by designing sneakers that are made with sustainable practices and innovative materials. Veja describes their values by saying that they have one foot in the high end fashion industry, and the other in the ecological world. They carefully source their materials from various locations around the world, ensuring they deliver the highest quality products whilst leaving behind the smallest footprint.
For the soles of the Veja Sneakers, they use eco-friendly wild rubber from the Amazon forest. Veja works with Brazilian seringueiros (rubber gatherers) who use a traditional technique to bleed the amazonian rubber trees and harvest the natural latex they produce. After applying a coagulating agent and drying the latex into rubber sheets at their homes, the seringueiros are then left with the final piece of rubber that is purer and more elastic than the standard. As well as creating jobs for the seringueiros, in France Veja’s logistics warehouse provides rehabilitation through work for incarcerated and vulnerable individuals.
Veja's B-mesh and Hexamesh ranges stole our hearts with not only their stylish and modern design, but also the creative decisions behind the shoe. B-mesh stands for bottle mesh, and this is because the mesh detailing on these sneakers is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles in Santo Andre, Brazil. The bottles are collected, picked through and then transformed into small plastic flakes that are turned into a polyester fibre. We adore how light and breathable this material feels, and they are also waterproof which is always amazing in a shoe. To produce a pair of Veja sneakers it takes three plastic bottles that would usually end up clogging up landfills or our oceans.
Fast fashion is another environmental issue Veja tackles by upcycling fashion industry waste into high fashion sneakers. Veja recycles cotton, jute and polyester and gives the discarded materials a second life by transforming them into new fabrics for their shoes.
Veja's popular Campo sneakers feature chrome-free leather. They feel lovely and smooth and are also light on the feet. The leather is innovatively tanned without the use of any nasties like chrome, heavy metals and hazardous acids. Veja simplified the steps it took to create these wonderful sneakers, and in turn reduced the chemicals and energy used and lessened their water usage by around 40%.
Another fabulous thing about Veja is that they cater to everyone by offering vegan styles in their range. We love our SDU and canvas Nova selection and know you will too! The SDU shoe features mesh detailing made from the plastic bottles mentioned earlier, as well as vegan suede and recycled polyester. If it is a more simple shoe you’re after, we think the Nova range would be perfect for you. Nova is available in leather or if you’d prefer a 100% vegan sneaker, opt for the canvas version.
Despite Veja vowing to never spend money on advertising and instead put their profits towards sourcing the best materials they can, Veja has blown up across the world, and rightfully so we think. We are honoured to stock this amazing brand and product here at Father Rabbit and are eager to share these beautiful sneakers with you!
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