LESS IS MORE: Leather and sustainability

Creating and developing a product from scratch is a long journey where you learn a lot about the industries you are in, as well as the world around you. 

We’ve come a long way since we created the first Mukishoes prototypes We feel like we can now look back proudly at the choices we’ve been making and also share some new insights with you: 

We want to introduce you to our new series called LESS IS MORE, that aims to create an open debate about materials, practices and especially about consumerism.

We live in a world of fast fashion and fads, where one trend – a color, style, material or even an ideology – is accepted by the many one day and discarded by the same people the next. 

As brands and consumers, we tend to forget that a product is only as sustainable as its sourced materials, longevity and, more importantly,  the whole of its lifecycle. 

We choose leather because of its unique characteristics like its natural origin, durability and the choice of local providers. This enables us to verify the conditions of workers and the treatments used, while reducing CO2 emissions, as the materials travel significantly shorter distances.

The leather used in our minimalist shoes is thus supple and comfortable to wear but also naturally breathable and water repellant. By using an ecological and vegetable tanning, and especially avoiding chromium, we ensure that it is as biodegradable as possible, further enhancing its sustainability. 

The most controversial materials at the moment are probably genuine leather and plastic. It is then quite unfortunate to realize that most available and viable alternatives to genuine leather either use plastic as a base component or another type of synthetic material as an enhancer.

In the last few years, however, the demand from customers for vegan leather alternatives has been growing significantly. 

We understand the enormous complexity of this topic – that is why we constantly strive to find new and innovative materials that meet our criteria as the environmental and social levels. This criteria also applies to several vegan materials, which we use for our barefoot shoes.

While you may think of them as substitutes, we do not look at our vegan shoes as an alternative to leather. Each natural material brings its very own properties, benefits and also limitations. 

Our goal is to create high quality, long-lasting and natural shoes with different materials for different purposes. We will continue to do so, while also consciously making an effort to improve with each collection.

At the end of the day, it is up to you to purchase products that meet your needs and suit your aesthetic, lifestyle and convictions. Ensuring a product is sustainable is as much in our hands as in yours, since you are the one that wears, cares and hopefully even gets to pass it on, respecting its full lifecycle.

TRY TO BUY LESS BUT BETTER THINGS.