Veja The Sustainable Sneakers You Didn't Know You Needed

By Alex Assoune Oct 14, 2021

Veja is a French fashion brand supplying ecological sneakers, bags, and accessories to 1,800 retailers in 45 countries. It creates shoes with organic materials, fair trade sourcing, and transparency.

Many A-list celebrities and social media personalities already wear Veja such as Duchess of Sussex Rachel Meghan Markle and Emma Watson. Veja already sold more than 4 million pairs of sneakers worldwide.

Two former investment bankers Sébastien Kopp and François-Ghislain Morillion founded Veja in 2004 to produce sneakers in a much more ethical and sustainable way, without the unnecessary suffering of people, in the supply chain, animals, or nature.

The working conditions in many East Asian garment factories are shockingly inhumane. Many fashion brands are still using sweatshops, child labor, and modern slavery to cheaply produce disposable clothing.

The demand for sustainable fashion and eco-friendly white sneakers is gradually increasing. While customers weren't that interested in who made their shoes, with what kind of materials, and in which conditions in the past, conscious consumerism is rising today.

"The goal of Veja is to create sneakers with a positive ecological and social impact. Veja has one foot in the fashion industry, and the other one in the transparency. It mixes ecology, innovation, and design [...] to invest our resources on the organic raw materials, production, employees’ and farmers’ salaries by cutting the advertising and communication budget. We believe in social networks and the power of word-of-mouth and of collective intelligence, that is how the word is spread today. We also love to work with inspiring people and cool projects and do collaborations with them."

- Sébastien Kopp, Veja Co-Founder and Creative Director, as told to ISPO
Veja works with producers of organic cotton and natural rubber from Brazil, in the region of Porto Alegre. It produces its shoes in factories that follow the standards of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

But Veja shoes aren't cruelty-free. The brand doesn't use exotic animal skin but uses leather from Brazil. Even if the company isn't perfect, it's making steps in the right direction to promote sustainable fashion.

Veja is a slow fashion brand, only designing and producing up to three new products a year, in contrast to the competition mostly made of large fast-fashion retailers.

Veja sneakers are very expensive to produce but are available from EUR 85 to 140 online.

Discover Veja sustainable sneakers collection at amazon.com

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About the Author: Alex Assoune

Alex Assoune (MS) is a global health and environmental advocate. He founded Panaprium to inspire others with conscious living, ethical, and sustainable fashion. Alex has worked in many countries to address social and environmental issues. He speaks three languages and holds two Master of Science degrees in Engineering from SIGMA and IFPEN schools.