 | |
| Industry | Footwear |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
| Products | Trainers, bags, small leather goods |
| Revenue | US$21 million (2017) [1] |
Number of employees | 325+ (2023) [2] |
| Website | www |
Veja (known as Vert in Brazil) is a French footwear and accessories brand founded in 2004. Veja's products are made with organic cotton and recycled plastic bottles.
Veja was founded in 2004. Veja's founders Sébastien Kopp and François-Ghislain Morillion met with organic cotton farmers in North Brazil and wild rubber tappers in the Amazon (Seringueiros) to establish the production chain behind Veja in Brazil.
In February 2005, the company made its first official launch at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris. Growing its influence, the company collaborated with French fashion designer Agnès b. In 2006, the company developed their first collection using vegetable-tanned leather, and has since began curating the photography exhibition Novo Mundo(S) at Wanted Gallery, Paris.
In 2007, the company began its collaboration with French label Comptoir des Cotonniers, launching its first collaborated product Veja + Christine Phung collection at the Pompidou Centre Design Shop in Paris. The business began expanding into the children's trainer scene, with the launch of Veja small. [3]
In 2008, the company began its expansion to London, opening its studio there. [4] Through time, the company has released a wide variety of different products and styles, ensuing talks of collaborations with third party organisations. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
Seeing record moves of progress, the company began its new wave of collaborations, beginning with Regina Dabdab. In 2013, the company released a capsule collection of printed trainers, inspired by professor Greg Asner's aerial maps recording forest cover and biodiversity in tropical forest ecosystems. [10] With the launch of the film Once upon a Forest, by French director Luc Jacquet, Veja commemorated its launch by releasing a custom trainer. [11]
In October 2018, the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, wore a pair of Veja sneakers to watch an Invictus Games sailing event during the official tour she took through Australia, New Zealand and Fiji with her spouse Prince Harry. [12] As of October 2018, Veja supplied its shoes to 1,800 retailers in 45 countries. They sold 550,000 pairs of shoes, generating $21 million in revenues in 2017. [13] In 2020, Veja employed between 180 and 190 people. [14]
Veja trainers and accessories are made of organic cotton, wild rubber from the Amazon, [15] vegetable-tanned leather, and recycled plastic bottles.
Veja works in the Northeast of Brazil with a co-operative of organic cotton farmers. Over 320 families have adopted the agro-ecology farming model with the technical support of the local NGO, ESPLAR. Cotton and food crops are cultivated without chemicals or artificial pesticides. Veja buys organic cotton at around twice the market price.[ citation needed ]
Since 2006 Veja has used vegetable-tanned leather. Vegetable-tanned leather is a chrome-free leather tanned with organic compounds only. Leather is usually tanned using heavy metals, like chrome, which generate high levels of pollution in the waters close to tanneries. Veja has replaced heavy metals with acacia extracts, a natural tannin.
Veja uses waterproof bottle mesh on the soles of sneakers. It takes three recycled plastic bottles to make a pair of shoes. Bottles are collected from the streets of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and are later crushed and transformed into fiber. [16]
Veja claims ecological and fair trade conditions and to work with cooperatives of small producers and social associations in Brazil and France. However, Veja has not published any results of social audits for many years nor are there any certificates for the company's self-acclaimed fair-trade standards available. [17] The factory where Veja trainers are made in South Brazil follows the standards of work established by the International Labour Organization.
Veja footwear and accessories are transported by ship from Brazil to Le Havre in France, where they are then taken to Paris by boat. [18] Logistics are managed by Ateliers Sans Frontières, a French social association which enables people who have been unemployed to return to the workforce through training.
Veja won The Guardian Sustainable Business Award in the supply chain category, [19] and The Observer in association with Vogue UK Ethical Award in the fashion category. [20]
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is vulnerable, and shoes provide protection. Form was originally tied to function but over time shoes also became fashion items. Some shoes are worn as safety equipment, such as steel-toe boots, which are required footwear at industrial worksites.
Converse is an American lifestyle brand that markets, distributes, and licenses footwear, apparel, and accessories. Founded by Marquis Mills Converse in 1908 as the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in Malden, Massachusetts, it has been acquired by several companies before becoming a subsidiary of Nike, Inc. in 2003.
H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB, also known as H&M Group, is a multinational clothing company based in Sweden that focuses on fast-fashion clothing. As of 23 June 2022, H&M Group operated in 75 geographical markets with 4,801 stores under the various company brands, with 107,375 full-time equivalent positions.
Sneakers (US) or trainers (UK), also known by a wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise but which are also widely used for everyday casual wear.
Puma SE is a German multinational corporation that designs and manufactures athletic and casual footwear, apparel and accessories, headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. Puma is the third largest sportswear manufacturer in the world. The company was founded in 1948 by Rudolf Dassler (1898–1974). In 1924, Rudolf and his brother Adolf "Adi" Dassler had jointly formed the company Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik. The relationship between the two brothers deteriorated until they agreed to split in 1948, forming two separate entities, Adidas and Puma.
Brooks Sports, Inc., also known as Brooks Running, is an American sports equipment company that designs and markets high-performance men's and women's sneakers, clothing, and accessories. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Brooks products are available in 60 countries worldwide. It is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.
Timberland LLC is an American manufacturer and retailer of outdoor footwear and apparel owned by VF Corporation. The company also sells accessories including watches, eyewear, and leather goods. Timberland's corporate headquarters are located in Stratham, New Hampshire.
Chuck Taylor All-Stars or Converse All Stars is a sneaker manufactured by Converse. Initially developed as a basketball shoe in the early 20th century, its design has remained largely unchanged since its introduction. The shoe consists of a stitched upper portion, and a toe cap and outsole usually made of rubber. Although Chuck Taylors are made of various materials such as leather or suede, the original and most widely known version is made from cotton canvas. The innovative detail of the original shoe was the "loose lining" of soft canvas that was intended to provide flexibility and prevent blisters.
Keds is an American brand known for its canvas shoes with rubber soles. Founded in 1916 by U.S. Rubber, its original shoe design was the first mass-marketed canvas-top sneaker. The brand was sold to Stride Rite in 1979, which was acquired by Wolverine World Wide in 2012. Since February 2023, Keds has been owned and operated by Designer Brands.
Sperry or Sperry Top-Sider is an American brand of boat shoe designed in 1935 by Paul A. Sperry. Sperrys, or Top-Siders, were the first boat shoes introduced into the boating and footwear markets. Today the Sperry brand is owned by Wolverine World Wide and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Nike Grind is a collection of recycled materials developed by Nike that is composed of pre-consumer manufacturing scraps, recycled post-consumer shoes from the Reuse-A-Shoe program, and unsellable footwear. The purpose of Nike Grind is to eliminate waste in line with the tenets of sustainable fashion practices and close the loop on Nike's product lifecycle The materials are used to make various Nike products, athletic surfaces and products for other companies. Materials recycled include rubber, foam, fiber, leather and textile blends, which are separated and ground into a wide range of granules.
Sustainable fashion is a term describing products, processes, activities, and people that aim to achieve a carbon-neutral fashion industry built on equality, social justice, animal welfare, and ecological integrity. Sustainable fashion concerns more than fashion textiles or products, rather addressing the entire process in which clothing is produced, consumed and disposed of. The movement looks to combat the large carbon footprint that the fast fashion industry has created by reducing the environmental impact such as air pollution, water pollution and climate change.
Costume National is an Italian fashion house, founded in 1986 by Ennio Capasa, creative director, and his brother Carlo, CEO. Costume National's head office is located in Milan, Italy. The company produces clothing under the brands Costume National, Costume National Homme and C’N’C as well as scents including The Trilogy, Scent Gloss, Scent Cool Gloss, Intense, 21, and Homme.
Nike, Inc. is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, United States. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of US$46 billion in its fiscal year 2022.
Hidesign is a leather goods manufacturer based in Pondicherry, India. In 2018, the company had operations in 24 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The leather goods segment of Hidesign contributes to 160 crore of revenue.
Autonomie Project was a fair trade, eco-friendly, and vegan fashion company based out of Boston, MA, in the United States. The company began in 2007 when group of friends who were frustrated with the fashion and footwear industries due to their lack of transparency and use of sweatshops and harmful chemicals. Autonomie Project produced shoes, flip flops, hand bags, T-shirts, winter hats and accessories. They worked with small, independent cooperatives and fair trade certified facilities located in developing areas of the world including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Peru, and the US. As well as being fair trade certified, the company used eco-friendly products as much as possible such as organic cottons and Forest Stewardship Council certified sustainable all natural rubber. Autonomie Project certified all products and materials all the way down the supply chain were vegan, produced by fair trade standards, and were environmentally friendly.
Feiyue is a Chinese shoe brand founded in Shanghai owned by Dafu Rubber Co., Ltd. The brand was acquired by Feiyue International, a subsidiary of BBC International LLC in 2014.
FEIT is an Australian shoe and accessories brand based in New York City. Founded in 2005. Feit is owned and operated by brothers Tull and Josh Price. FEIT products are handmade using natural materials.
Adidas Parley is a collection of clothing and footwear originated from the collaboration of German multinational company Adidas and Parley for the Oceans, an organization that addresses environmental threats towards the oceans, through plastic pollution.
Rothy's is an American direct-to-consumer company which designs and sells shoes and accessories. Rothy's was initially founded in 2012 and launched in 2016 by Stephen Hawthornthwaite and Roth Martin as a women's shoe company in San Francisco. It has since expanded with handbags and a men's line.
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