Sustainability and social responsibility is the bottom line
This business was designed to be as transparent as possible. We created our own supply chain to make sure we know who makes our sandals and shoes, what they’re made from and how we can improve in any areas to ensure we are contributing to a better world.
Materials, Production & Distribution
All of our sandals are handmade in Brisbane and Cherbourg, Queensland, Australia.
Our sandals are made exclusively from materials that have the lowest environmental footprint possible. We make our own shoe bags in Cherbourg from linen or hemp and up-cycled leather lacing, our brand labels in cotton are made in Sydney. We have chosen to have the most minimal packaging possible so we post our sandals in biodegradable box only because who really needs another box? Our ballet flats come in a shoebox and a shipping box made from recycled materials and are made in Melbourne
All of our leathers are sourced and produced in Australia with the rest of our components (Hardware and contact cement) coming from Spain and Germany.
Our ballet flats are made at a boutique factory in Portugal. We have worked with them to make sure no plastic components are included in our shoes. We use European leather that is sourced from Spain or Portugal for the uppers, lining and sole.
Leather
We exclusively use vegetable tanned kangaroo leather from Packer Direct for our sandal uppers. Kangaroo leather is one of the strongest yet softest leathers in the world and is wild caught in a scientifically determined harvest annually. We believe this makes it one of the most sustainable leathers available. Read more about kangaroo leather here on our blog
Additionally, we use all grades of leather for our sandals to ensure that we respect this resource. We upcycle all leather we can so that there is little to no waste, that means the insoles are made of leather that is too scarred or damaged to be used for straps or the foot bed. We also use leather that may have scars visible on the sandals. We don’t see these as flaws but as a reminder that this leather came from a sentient being.
After the catastrophic bushfires in 2019 and going into 2020 this year, we continue to monitor our use of kangaroo leather. We have updated our blog with an article regarding our usage and if it is still sustainable - read here.
Packaging
Recycling is broken. Which is why we send our sandals or shoes in minimal packaging. We use hemp fabric, which uses less water, to make our shoe bags in Cherbourg and leather scraps for lacing for the ties. Our sandals are sent in their shoe bags and recycled shipping box. Our ballet flats are made in Kraft paper shoe boxes and recycled Kraft shipping boxes.
We continue to look at ways to reduce our environmental foot print and do regular audits to see if there are new materials we can use to replace any of our current materials.