our ethics

big corps call it radical transparency

We just call it doing things how they should have always been done.

When this all began, our only focus was correcting the wrongs of an industry that never listened. Mistake after mistake, the same thing would happen again, and again, and again. Disasters that shook the planet weren't even enough. We wanted to meet at the intersection where we could combine our love for contemporary streetwear with sustainability. The sustainable shoes out there just didn't suit our style.

For a year, we scoured through every single paper we could find online, every book in the library of the university and every fashion report that we could get our hands on to get to grips with the latest innovations and to understand what materials were truly the most sustainable.

We decided to set out on a mission to make a sneaker from as many recycled materials as possible, without sacrificing style. We have reached 75% with our Franco style, which you can order here. We will continue to develop our range and we will continue to re-invest into sustainability and sustainable material developments when we can.

we keep it local to europe

Finding the right manufacturer was a huge task for us. The UK was too intent on traditional shoemaking and wouldn't listen to our sustainable ideas. We decided early on that Asia was too far away for us to ever feel comfortable; there are so many horror stories on how workers are treated, they're huge companies and we wouldn't even be able to visit the factory to make sure everything was being made ethically.

We decided on Europe. We needed a country close to home that had a history in shoemaking. The obvious choices were Italy and Portugal.

Then, that's when we found our manufacturers in Lousada, Portugal, just outside of the quaint Northern city of Porto.

The owners of our factory have been in the footwear business for generations. They currently have several establishments spread between Lousada and Felguieras - the footwear capital of Portugal. In the next few months they will be moving all of their operations to a new state of the art footwear factory in Lousada. This clean, light and airy space will be home to everyone from pattern cutters, seamstresses and quality control checkers.

Keeping everything local to Portugal means that we don't have to import products from suppliers all over the world. That means we support local industries, communities and produce less carbon emissions.

made in portugal, designed in great britain

We drove over 1,500 miles from Falmouth, a tiny coastal town in Cornwall to move our operations to Portugal whilst developing our first collection. We wanted to be able to visit the factory and all of our suppliers as often as we could to ensure the best working relationship possible. By being in Portugal, we had the privilege of being able to meet and work in person with every individual who helped to make our dream a reality. This, in turn, meant we could make sure everyone was being treated fairly whilst creating our shoes. All of the employees involved in making our shoes are paid above the national wage, get 22 days of paid holidays according to the Portuguese labour code, work shifts between 8am-6pm with 2 hour-long breaks and are offered optional paid overtime.

Additionally, all of our suppliers are based either in the Northern area of Portugal, or Spain. This means that our fabrics don't have to travel the world twice over before they even leave our warehouse. We will never have to worry about unlawful subcontracting or unseen working conditions, because we are able to see every stage of the footwear making process happen. From pattern cutting to stitching, gluing and boxing!

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