The Ultimate Guide to More Sustainable Sneakers

Fashion and responsible production 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 lower-impact fabrics like organic cotton.

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

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Shop Womsh.

Vesica Piscis is a vegan footwear brand based in Spain. It uses a high proportion of lower-impact materials, uses renewable energy in its manufacturing, and works on a made-to-order basis to reduce waste.

Find most shoes in sizes 36-46.

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Shop Vesica Piscis.

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.

Shop Will’s Vegan Store @ Shop Like You Give a Damn.

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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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 @ LVRSustainable.

Shop Stella McCartney Pre-Owned @ Vestiaire Collective.

Shop Stella McCartney second hand @ Retykle.

Shop Stella McCartney.

Veja is a French brand designing ecological and fair trade footwear, and is also a responsible fashion pioneer. The brand uses lower-impact 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 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 @ Threads 4 Thought.

Shop Veja Kids second hand @ Retykle.

Based in France, COG is a footwear label that creates more sustainable, vegan shoes from 100% recycled materials, including natural corks, used cotton scraps, end-of-life rubber, and plastic bottles fished out of the sea.

Offered in sizes EU 35-46.

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Shop COG.

Shop COG @ Shop Like You Give a Damn.

Shop COG @ Immaculate Vegan.

8000Kicks is a US-based brand specialising in footwear crafted from industrial hemp. Sparked by a unique vision to create the world’s first waterproof hemp shoe and empower customers with sustainable lifestyle choices, it works closely with dedicated producers, and extends its commitment to sustainability by supporting tree-planting initiatives.

Sizes range from US 6-14.

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Shop 8000Kicks.

Shop 8000kicks @ Shop Like You Give a Damn.

Shop 8000Kicks @ Immaculate Vegan.

Agazi is a vegan footwear brand from Poland. Its range spans sneakers, sandals, heels, and flat shoes, all made using non-animal-derived materials including hemp and apple skin and grape-based alternative leathers.

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Shop Agazi.

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 lower-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.

Thanks to recycled materials like rescued ocean plastic, Ecoalf creates more sustainable fashion with the same quality, design, and technical properties as the best non-recycled ones.

Find the range in sizes XS-2XL.

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Shop Ecoalf.

Shop Ecoalf @ Shop Like You Give a Damn.

UK brand Komodo puts people and the planet first with its lower-impact range of menswear and womenswear. The label uses some more responsible materials including GOTS-certified cotton and hemp, and ensures that most of its suppliers pay a living wage to their workers.

Find most of the range in UK sizes 8-16.

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Shop Komodo.

Shop Komodo @ Immaculate Vegan.

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 @ Urbankissed.

Shop NAE @ Immaculate Vegan.

Shop NAE @ Shop Like You Give a Damn.

Flamingos’ Life creates sneakers that are free from animal-derived materials for everyone. 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.

Canadian brand tentree plants ten trees for every item purchased to help regenerate ecosystems and provide planting jobs in communities around the world, and has already planted over 65 million trees. All tentree’s products are created with an Earth-first approach, meaning they’re made in fair, safe working conditions, and constructed using lower-impact and recycled materials.

tentree’s clothes are typically available from XS-XL.

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Shop tentree.

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.