I recently became the lucky owner of a pair of Simple shoes. Sadly, because of all the snow here in the UK for the past couple of weeks, I’ve not been able to wear them out and had to stick to boots, but I have been able to find out about the company that made them.
Simple was established in 1991. They wanted to be the antithesis of the over hyped, over produced and wasteful shoe manufacturers out there. Recognising that the shoe industry was, on the whole, damaging to the planet they rejected the status quo and began with the ‘Green Toe’ shoe collection made from natural fibres. Later they added recycled car and bike tyres and plastic bottles to their shoe-making materials as well as certified organic cotton, hemp, bamboo and eco-certified leathers and suede. The packaging is stripped right back to just shoe forms and boxes made from recycled post consumer card and biodegradable bags too.
Simple’s manifesto is:
“How we make our shoe is just as important as why we make them. we’re committed to making our products 100% sustainable”
The thing I like about Simple is their recognition that creating an innovative and sustainable product doesn’t happen overnight and there is always something new to learn on the journey. They know that they still have lots to do in achieving their 100% sustainable product and have been insightful enough to experiment, assess and change where necessary. To me that looks like a company who is committed to what they do and have the creativity to achieve it. Their plans for the future includes their latest campaign ‘less > more’ which you can find out about on their website as well as details of their ethical supply chain and restricted substances policies.
So, what about the shoes? Well I went for the ‘Pinwheel’ shoe because its vegan and made from hemp. Hemp is a fantastic plant, with its own built-in pesticides and needing much, much less water than cotton to grow. It’s really tough but soft and comfortable at the same time. Hemp production used to leave us with a nasty, scratchy fabric but those days are long gone and its just lovely now.
The Simple shoe designs are cool and could rival the other well known brands any day of the week. They come in lots of different styles (sneakers, boots, sandals, slippers) for guys, girls and kids and the prices are pretty good too.
Leblas exclusively uses 100% recycled gold and silver metals from a carefully selected refinery, which are segregated from all other metals and then transferred directly to our workshops in Spain. By using recycled materials, we know that we are helping to reduce the carbon footprint caused by excessive mining. Leblas does not compromise quality for ethics, which is why we only use 18k gold and high-quality conflict–free Canadian diamonds and other traceable gems.
In addition to being ethical in the materials and techniques used to make its jewellery, we use recycled paper and biodegradable inks and paper, all certified by the FSC. We also support young talent by acting as a stockist to upcoming jewellery designers, such as Missoma, Francesca Sibylla Augusta, and SHO, and Lily Cole’s ethical knitwear line “The North Circular”.
“Plastic bottles are terrible for the environment:” it’s a familiar tune sung by eco-conscious greenifying gurus around the world, but plastic bottles can benefit the environment. But wait, how is that possible?
PLAYBACK also makes sweatshirts for men and women using discarded cotton scraps from other brands such as Quicksilver, Levis and Juicy. The next challenge for the company is making shirts out of old X-Ray film.
It’s that time of the week again! Here’s our fabulous Eco Chic Weekly round up….
Here’s this week’s eco style round up. Enjoy!…
