Sustainability in the footwear industry

Sustainability today is an important topic for the shoe industry and is undoubtedly a topic of absolute interest and which is much talked about. When we talk about footwear, sustainability is a very broad subject: it touches on various aspects that impact companies along the entire supply chain from raw materials to consumption.

The opinion of our publishing house is that to talk about sustainability at this time it is necessary to balance two aspects:

Create an effective story telling capable of attracting the attention of consumers;
Provide a scientific and quantitative basis for the story.

We believe the era of green washing is over and the time has finally come to address the issue of sustainability in the footwear sector with a serious and precise approach. Getting into further details we think it is necessary to elevate the discussion and focus on methodologies based on LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) which have the objective to investigate, measure and accurately describe the environmental impact of products and footwear organizations.

In this section of our site we will try to achieve two goals:

Aggregate all the articles on the theme of sustainability that describe case histories ranging from development of materials to projects of sustainable shoes and that talk about companies and events.
Produce articles similar to white papers that can help to understand in a simple but not trivial way the theme of sustainability in the footwear sector.

Biodegradable shoes

What is meant by biodegradable shoe? Let me say it in a simple way: you put it in the soil, you wait a little while and in the end you can’t find it anymore because it has turned into something else.

Learn more about this topic …

Kiefer von Zoe. Commitment to a sustainable future [Download Sustainability White Paper]

With over 40 years of experience in the shoe industry, Kiefer von Zoe specialises in researching and developing materials for assembly insoles for the most demanding shoe manufacturers and designers.

Sustainability news from our blog

Materials and components Other components

The sustainability of Texon at Shoes&Leather Guangzhou

After over a year, Texon returns as the protagonist of a fair held in a physical format, presenting at the event, held from 31 May to 2 June, some of the most important innovations in the field of sustainability.

Industry

How to choose sustainable materials

A theme more important than ever before presented in the webinar organised by Intertek Maison, with the participation of Marina Spadafora, Fashion and Sustainability Advisor, and Michela Finaurini, Fabrics & Embroidery Research Expert, as well as the experts of Intertek, Calin Moldovean, President of Business Assurance & Food Services, and Mike Redshaw, Head of Technical – Global Softlines.

Materials and components

Eco-tan, bio-circular leather

Ecotan is an innovative leather tanning technology developed by Silvateam, world leader in the production of natural tannins, in order to produce a new class of leather that has excellent performance standards, is safe for all and is a truly bio-circular material.