The Ultimate Guide to Ethical and Sustainable Shoes

CARIUMA is a sustainable Brazilian sneaker brand that wants you to feel super comfortable while providing effortless style in organic canvas, leather, and suede styles.

Find CARIUMA's shoes in US sizes 5-13.

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Shop CARIUMA.

Shop CARIUMA @ Good.

Veja is a French brand designing ecological and fair trade footwear, and is also a sustainable fashion pioneer. The brand uses eco-friendly materials, like GOTS certified cotton and vegetable-tanned leather! Veja pays its co-operative cotton growers and rubber tappers between 30% and 100% above the world market price. By not advertising, Veja is able to invest more money into strengthening its ethical practices.

You can find Veja shoes in women's EU sizes 35-46, and men's 35-47.

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Shop Veja.

Shop Veja @ LVR Sustainable

Shop Veja @ Outerknown.

Shop Veja @ Threads 4 Thought.

Shop Veja Kids second hand @ Retykle.

A member of the Ethical Trading Initiative and Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Stella McCartney has set some excellent environmental standards across the luxury fashion industry. Stella uses some lower-impact materials, including recycled polyester and organic cotton, and has a strategy in place to reduce waste across its entire supply chain. It has also adopted the ETI Code of Conduct that includes a living wage definition.

Find most items in sizes 34-52.

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Shop Stella McCartney @ LVR Sustainable.

Shop Stella McCartney Kids Pre-Owned @ Retykle.

Shop Stella McCartney Pre-Owned @ Vestiaire Collective.

Shop Stella McCartney.

Wildling is a German footwear brand that encourages novice and experienced walkers alike to rediscover pleasant, natural walking. Find the shoes in EU sizes 36 to 48.

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Etiko is an Australian designer of organic fair trade clothing and shoes. The brand constantly sets the bar for upholding and campaigning the human rights of people working in traditionally exploitative industry supply chains.

Find the clothes in AU sizes 8-20, and the shoes in UK sizes 3-13.

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Shop Etiko.

Fashion and sustainability can go together and Womsh is the brand that proves it. Its shoes are entirely designed and manufactured in Italy, and its clothing range is made from more responsible fabrics like organic cotton.

Find most shoes in EU sizes 35-42, and clothes in XS-2XL.

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Shop Womsh.

NOAH creates cruelty-free and 100% vegan shoes and accessories. This German brand's high-quality and long-lasting shoes are hand-crafted in Italy, using a small proportion of eco-friendly material. Find them in EU sizes 35-42.

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Shop NOAH.

Shop NOAH @ Immaculate Vegan.

ID.EIGHT is an Italian brand that was born from the meeting between Dong Seon Lee and Giuliana Borzillo, both come from the world of footwear, where they worked and met. Together they have created a more ethical and sustainable collection of sneakers with a refined design. The shoes are made in Italy with low environmental impact materials from food industry waste such as apple peels, grape stalks and seeds, and pineapple leaves, as well as recycled cotton and polyester.

Find the shoes in EU sizes 36-46.

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Shop ID.EIGHT.

Flamingos' Life creates sneakers for men and women 100% animal-free. The brand uses lower-impact and PETA approved vegan materials, including upcycled materials.

Find the range in sizes 36-46.

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Shop Flamingos' Life.

Shop Flamingos' Life @ Good.

Balenciaga is a luxury fashion house founded in 1919 by Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga in San Sebastián. The Kering-owned brand has been making some efforts to reduce its environmental impact, setting targets to reduce its direct and indirect emissions, and implementing initiatives to reduce water use.

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Shop Balenciaga Pre-Owned @ Vestiaire Collective.

The iconic British fashion house, owned by Kering and now run by Sarah Burton (who designed Catherine Middleton's dress for her wedding to Prince William), is characterised by theatrical and bright styling. The brand has started to improve its environmental practices by setting a science-based target to reduce greenhouse gases in its own operations and supply chain by 50% per unit of revenue by 2025. It also has a policy to eliminate environmental pollution from the use of chromium and other chemicals in its leather tanning processes, and implements initiatives to reduce water use. Thanks to these policies, Alexander McQueen is on the right path and stands out from the majority of luxury fashion houses.

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Shop Alexander McQueen Pre-Owned @ Vestiaire Collective.

Thesus favours transparency, ethical manufacturing practices, and more sustainable materials as a means of creating long-lasting, positive change.

Find the boots in EU sizes 36-46.

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Shop Thesus.

NAE is a Portuguese footwear, bags, and accessories brand using innovative materials to create goods with “No Animal Exploitation”. Its lower-impact materials include recycled PET from bottles, OEKO-TEX® certified microfibres, recycled car tyres, natural cork, recycled thermoplastic, and even pineapple leaf fibre.

Find most of the shoes in sizes 36-46.

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Shop NAE.

Shop NAE @ Staiy.

Shop NAE @ Urbankissed.

Will's Vegan Store produces animal and human friendly women's and men's footwear, clothing, and accessories at affordable prices.

Find the women's shoes in US sizes 5-10, and men's in 7.5-14.

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Shop Will’s Vegan Store.

VEERAH is an NYC-based designer vegan shoe company founded and led by women to "do good and look incredible". Its innovative apple peel leather shoe collection is crafted with cushioned insoles made from algae blooms. Each pair is transformative with interchangeable shoe accessories to create more looks with less. It is made for warriors "killin' it with kindness".

Find most shoes in US sizes 5-11.

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Shop VEERAH.

Good Guys creates cruelty-free shoes for women and men, founded and designed by Marion Hanania in Paris. Through Good Guys, Hanania aims to create the perfect cruelty-free, made in Europe closet, where no animal product is involved, and the production guarantees fair trade working conditions.

Find most shoes in EU sizes 36-46.

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Shop Good Guys.

Shop Good Guys @ Immaculate Vegan.

“Love Fashion, Think Organic, Be Responsible” are the maxims of LANIUS. The German brand uses more eco-friendly materials, like GOTS certified cotton. All LANIUS facilities are SA8000 certified and it is a member of the Fair Wear Foundation.

LANIUS' clothes are available in EU sizes 34-44.

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Shop LANIUS.

Shop LANIUS @ Curate.

Christy Dawn is a minimalist showroom for vintage-inspired women's clothing and footwear, locally made with surplus fabric. The US brand rates "Great", making it a fabulous option for your wardrobe.

Find the clothes in standard sizes XS-XL, or shop the Extended and Petite collections.

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Shop Christy Dawn.

Nomadic State of Mind hand-crafts vegan sandals made of rope, up-cycled sailcloth, hemp, and recycled plastic bottles. The brand also provides jobs for workers from disadvantaged communities in Nicaragua.

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Shop Nomadic State of Mind.

Shop Nomadic State of Mind @ Good.

Mother of Pearl is a more sustainable and ethical luxury womenswear and accessories designer brand from the UK that celebrates individuality and authenticity. The brand uses a high proportion of more eco-friendly materials including organic cotton and ensures the payment of a living wage across some of its supply chain.

Find most products in UK sizes 6-16.

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Shop Mother of Pearl.

Shop Mother of Pearl @ Rêve en Vert.

Shop Mother of Pearl Pre-Owned @ Vestiaire Collective.

A pioneer of independent Australian design, Elk was founded in Melbourne in 2004. Elk creates bi-annual collections that are informed by a design ethos where simplicity and sustainability meet innovation. Find most items in AU sizes 6-18.

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Shop Elk.

Filippa K was built in Stockholm in 1993, on a backbone of entrepreneurial strength focused on style, simplicity and quality. It uses organic cotton and linen and recycles off-cuts created during the manufacturing process. The brand is also certified as ‘good’ by the Fair Wear Foundation and makes efforts to follow the Fair Wear Responsible Code of Labour.

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Shop Filippa K Pre-Owned @ Vestiaire Collective.

COS is a Swedish brand that creates timeless and innovative wardrobe-essentials. It uses some eco-friendly materials and received a score of 71-80% in the Fashion Transparency Index.

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Shop COS Pre-Owned @ Vestiaire Collective.

Yves Saint Laurent, or as it's now known, Saint Laurent, is a French luxury fashion house founded by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé. The brand has good policies to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

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Shop Saint Laurent Pre-Owned @ Vestiaire Collective.