We have seen our fair share of sneaHERs made of recycled materials this year in an effort to be more cautious of the effects of footwear production on the environment. However, for Paris based brand VEJA (Portuguese for “look”), traditional methods for sourcing sustainable materials were not cutting it. After their time working for big corporations and with Tristan Lecomte for Alter Eco, François-Ghislain Morillion and Sébastien Kopp had a revelation. The duo decided to attempt to use the same principles learned by Lecomte - that is working directly with farmers and producers - to reinvent what for them was the most symbolic product of their generation: sneakHERSs.

Their journey took them to Brazil in 2004 where they delved into the Amazon to discover wild rubber that is harvested from rubber trees and in turn becomes the cornerstone of the VEJA brand. They met with organic cotton producers in the Brazilian Nordeste region that grows organic cotton without the use of harsh chemicals and is agro-ecological. Meaning, the soil becomes richer after every harvest instead of being harmed. The duo heads to a sneaker factory in Porto Alegre, located in the South of Brazil, where they have worker and social rights similar to that of Europe. This factory is where VEJA ultimately decides to manufacture their sneakers. The brand eventually develops a fabric that is entirely made of recycled plastic bottles which is made in São Paulo called B-mesh. Fast forward to over 10 years later, the brand is still finding new ways to be sustainable, agro-ecological, and putting manufacturing transparency at the forefront of all they do.

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15 years of adventures, failures, successes, working with incredible people, travelling in crazy places, creating crazy projects. We don’t do a lot of videos, maybe not enough, we usually don’t accept TV interviews. Because we think acts speak louder than words. This video is a summary of the first 15 years of VEJA. The sound was recorded in 2017, so it is not completely updated. This is our journey. To all the people who believe in the VEJA project, since 2003, who helped us to launch, who are supporting us through sunshine and strong weather. Dedication to our team, to the ones who are with us for a decade or more, to the ones who left for new adventures, to the ones who will join us tomorrow. We have still a lot to accomplish. Updated facts : *LEATHER : From 2008 to 2015, we used only vegetally tanned leather. We changed in 2015 because of costs raises, as we were the only one to use this kind of leather in Brazil. Today, 40% of our collection is Vegan, we use well sourced common leather, chrome free leather (for example on the Campo model) *TEAM : From 60 people in 2017, the team in 2020 counts more than 200 people.

A post shared by VEJA (@veja) on Apr 19, 2020 at 12:24am PDT

Within the VEJA lineup is the V-10. The low top sneakHER comes in multiple options for any sneakHERhead’s needs. The silhouette has an upper composed of either leather or their B-mesh material, panels made up of water-repellent suede or leather, their signature rubber “V” logo, a lining in jersey constructed of organic cotton and recycled polyester, and insoles and outsoles made out of wild rubber and other synthetic materials.

It can be nice to expand your horizon’s and try new brands to incorporate into the mix. If you want to switch up your sneakHER rotation and try out a more sustainable brand, you can shop the VEJA V-10 through VEJA’s website or you can SHOP THE VEJA V-10 and scroll through our picks via our shopping sider below

Veja's V-10 Redefines Sustainability in Footwear

SHOP THE VEJA V-10 BELOW

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