Sustainable fashion: Ethletic sneakers are fair, vegan and sustainable

Trendy, expensive, wasteful - this is how one could sum up the current worldwide sneaker boom. Unfortunately, the environment is often a secondary consideration when producing the most popular models, and at the end of their lives, sneakers end up in the hazardous waste bin. German sneaker brand Ethletic proves that fashion and environmental and social awareness do not have to be mutually exclusive: It manufactures vegan sneakers from Fairtrade-certified organic cotton and natural rubber (FSC) and donates 1 US dollar per pair sold to workers' welfare associations. Those who are particularly happy with their sneakers can also send a tip to the workers in Pakistan.

“The people who work for Ethletic are not just a number on the balance sheet or a cost factor for us. We have gotten to know these people. We appreciate them and their skills, their commitment, their history," explains Ethletic CEO Mark Solterbeck, who travels several times a year to India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan to maintain personal contacts with the manufacturers.

Personal contacts and fair production are essentials

This also has an effect on the quality, which can thus be improved continuously. In addition, Solterbeck can get a clear picture of employee training himself and verify the stability and sustainability of the supply chains. One US dollar per pair of sneakers sold goes to the "Talon Fairtrade Workers Welfare Society", which was founded in 2002. The workers decide for themselves which projects they want to use the money for - for example, their children's education, their pensions, health care or microcredits.

“Since the end of 2019, together with the social start-up Tip Me, we have been making it possible for customers to send a personal tip to the makers of their shoes directly from our online shop, which is 100 percent received by the staff. An absolute novelty in the clothing industry”, explains Ethletic.

In addition, the company has started a repair service for worn out sneakers in cooperation with Berlin company Sneaker Rescue last year, which extends the life of the sneakers. This is good for the environment and real sneakerheads. In case the shoes should be beyond repair, Ethletic is currently thinking about a deposit system for sneakers in which shoes can be returned to Ethletic at the end of their life for recycling.

Collaborations with artists spawn capsule collections

The award-winning brand, which is “vegan approved” by PETA and winner of the Fairtrade Award 2016 in the manufacturer category, has also collaborated with many artists, resulting in various capsule collections. The “Karma Chakhs,” for example, with Berlin architect Van Bo Le-Mentzel, “Ethical Couture” with Berlin artist Kay Wright, limited editions with designer Johanna Balzer and the band Donots, Pakistani artist Shehzil Malik, professional longboarder Esther Suave and students from Lahore and Berlin. A functional leisure jogging shoe and a skateboarding shoe made of purely natural, renewable raw materials are planned for the future.

Ethletic did not even start out as a sneaker brand, but as a sports brand. The aim of the two founders James Lloyd and Dr. Martin Kunz was to produce the world’s first fair trade football. This was difficult because the industry stood for child labour and inhumane working conditions all over the world. In addition, there was no sustainability seal for rubber - the material from which footballs are largely made. So Kunz himself created one for the natural rubber sourced from Sri Lanka. The goal was achieved in 1998 with the world's first fair produced football, manufactured in Pakistan and awarded the FSC seal, a first for the brand.

Ethletic became a sneaker brand by accident

The expansion into sneakers happened by accident: A canvas shoe with a rubber sole slipped out of the pocket of one of the founders during a supplier meeting in Pakistan. The production manager said confidently: "We can do something like that" and there was a new goal: a fair-trade sneaker, to be produced in an environmentally friendly way on the basis of already established ethical supply chains.

This goal was achieved as well: The world's first sneaker to be awarded the Fairtrade seal of approval for fair trade organic cotton was an Ethletic sneaker in 2004. In addition, the umbrella association for fair trade stores, with its strict fair trade criteria, included Ethletic as an approved supplier in 2010.

By now, the sneaker brand has built up a community of loyal fans - not only in Germany, but also in other European and non-European countries. There are now also online shops in France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Great Britain and the USA.

Photos: Ethletic