I worked as an editor for a leisure, tourism and lifestyle magazine and, from time to time, I was asked to do some special assignments in the form of long reports that included a photo shoot. It was nice to get out of the newsroom from time to time, even if it was a less profitable job than the rest because I was paid at a fixed price that often did not correspond to the time spent. But since it was once in a while, it wasn’t bad either.
Some of these reports were about young fashion firms trying to bring some innovation to the sector. And that’s how I met that couple of designers who had started to make vegan sneakers. Despite being involved in the world for my work, I was not a big fan of fashion: at the blacksmith’s house, a wooden knife as they say. So when I was told that I should interview those from a vegan shoe company, I laughed a little and had to make a bad joke.
But there I went as my list of questions and my camera. Although I was a little scared by what I could find, I was received very well and I realized that those two boys were professionals with clear things despite their youth. They had both worked for other major fashion companies, but were not entirely happy with the experience. They are very aware of sustainable production and, although without giving specific names, they assured that they had felt a great disappointment when verifying what the reality of the production of large textiles is like.
And that is how they embarked on the joint project of vegan sneakers, a product manufactured in an environmentally friendly and totally sustainable way. And, also, very well designed. Because as they told me, sustainability is only part of production: it must remain fashionable, it must be attractive. They do not want to be confused with the typical ones who sign up for a trend because it leads. And, for the moment, they are doing more than well.