Love shopping for shoes, but hate the impact this can have on our planet? Questioning your ecological footprint, but also looking for a new pair to extend your wardrobe and broaden your personal style? We get it. Here’s our ultimate guide to shopping for shoes eco-consciously.
The Feliz Guide to Sustainable Shoes
As much as we love fashion, particularly shoes, we cannot deny the detrimental effects of the fashion industry on our climate. This journal entry explores eco-conscious shoe shopping and includes our tips to make sure your footwear is as green as can be.
Sustainability at Feliz Shoes
At Feliz, we decided a long time ago that we would do our best to reduce our ecological footprint as a fashion company. We are committed to designing and producing shoes in a manner that is both kind to our planet and to the artisans crafting (often by hand) our products.
This means our founder and designer Dorien looks for leathers herself, personally selecting high quality leather. Fast fashion multinationals often have their cheap leather produced in unregulated tanneries, which are both extremely dangerous for workers as well as destructive to the environment. By personally selecting high quality leather of European origin and make, we can ensure that Feliz materials are produced more eco-consciously and respectfully.
Furthermore, our shoes are all made in a working environment where European traditional knowledge about the craft of shoemaking is valued, preserved and expanded; where the artisan makers are rewarded fairly for their labor; and where the environment is treated with respect. We also transport and distribute our products by car instead of air travel to reduce our CO2 emissions as much as possible. As a small company, these commitments to a fair production process is a point of pride for us.
Shop consciously
When shopping for new shoes, choose to buy from brands that are producing and distributing eco-consciously and prioritize ethical and safe working conditions. Fast fashion brands are known both for poor quality and environmentally harmful production and distribution processes, as well as exploitative labor practices.
Shop from brands that show transparency when it comes to their production lines. Brands such as Feliz care for and respect both their artisan makers and the environment, as well as valuing quality over quantity. When buying from eco-conscious brands, not only are you shopping eco-consciously, but you will most likely be investing in a way more durable pair of shoes than when buying mass produced footwear.
Take care of your shoes
One of the biggest issues pertaining to the fashion industry is overconsumption (and by extension, overproduction). Taking care of the shoes you already have ensures you won’t have to buy new shoes as often, which counteracts overconsumption and saves you some money as well.
Buying high quality, handcrafted shoes, especially when it comes to seasonal shoes such as espadrilles, will also assure you won’t have to replace them as frequently. At Feliz, we make sure our materials and products are of the highest quality, providing shoes that will literally last you for years to come.
Read more about our commitment to environmentally kind production and fair working conditions in our founding story.