I love hearing about small, ethical shoe companies so I’m really happy to feature these Desert boots by Guat Shoes from Sheffield. They manage to be at once both pretty smart-casual and respectable, yet quite bohemian / hippie as well. Excellent.
My friend John owns a pair of these and told me about these people, who make all their shoes by hand, sourcing local materials whenever possible. The shoes are apparently really comfortable and hard wearing and can be resoled, meaning you get really good value for money. The vegan versions are made out of lorica, which is about as tough as you can get for non-leather.
They make shoes and boots for both men and women (there’s also a desert boot version for the girls). I must say they have some real funky looking boots and things. It’s just a shame their “Guat originals” don’t come in leather, cause they’re totally wicked.
You can get the shoes from the Guat Shoes website.
These white vegan creepers from Vegetarian Shoes are being discontinued, so this is your last chance to get a pair. The black version only has one size left but there are still a few sizes left in this white version.
These are European sizes and there are sizes in stock for both men and women, although they are running out fast, it seems.
If you’re into this retro look, you’ll know how hard it is to find well made shoes from this style that will last you years. Well, these are it. Vegetarian Shoes make them to last.
You can get them from the Vegetarian Shoes website.
I sometimes have mixed feelings about Simple Shoes, as they do use a lot of leather and suede in their shoes, but are waving the eco flag quite strongly. Still, these 100% vegan shoes are guaranteed to have absolutely no animal products inside, so make a good choice for a canvas trainer if you want to be sure you’re being absolutely animal free.
They’re also pretty cool-looking and are apparently very well made and comfortable. They’re also eco-friendly and ethical. The rubber parts are recycled and will biodegrade.
You can get them directly from Simple Shoes.
I tried to ignore the whole thing, but apparently there’s no escape, so here’s a pair of vegan football boots. I don’t know why they call them boots, they are blatantly some sort of trainer. Still, who am I to argue?
I’m not sure I like the colours on them, but they are the only ones I could find online, so there you go. Now you too could kick a (vegan) football around the field and feel manly.
You can get them at Alternative Stores
Oh yeah, and for the full effect, there’s this…
Leather trainers look smarter than canvas trainers, sad but true. But here’s a pair of vegan trainers for the boys that look just as smart-casual as the leather ones.
Not quite my style, I must say, but they do a good job of matching some of the popular leather styles I’ve seen around and are apparently very ethical as well as being 100% vegan. They look quite Italian in style, actually, which is echoed by the name of the company, although I think they are in the US.
You can get these directly from the company’s site – Ragazzi Vegan.
This has certainly been the week for me being contacted by cool vegan shoe sources!
I’ve just had an email from the nice people at Everyday Logic (WearEveryday.com), a totally vegan, ethical and environmentally sound online boutique. They have some very interesting shoes, including this pair, made out of recycled canvas rice bags from Bali. Aren’t they totally cool and unusual?
Definitely something you don’t see every day and they are unisex too, so I have marked them as Men’s shoes as well for the boys. They are fair trade, as you’d expect from a product sold in an ethical store, so points all round for these.
You can get them from my new excellent discovery – WearEveryday.com
Check out these “Jinga” Brazilian trainers on Neon Collective! They’re fun and flexible, inspired, apparently, by Capoeira. They’re designed to feel like you’re not wearing shoes at all, so are lightweight and have a special dance shoe like sole.
I see they come in lots of different colours, though I am not sure which colours Neon Collective have. Either way, the company that makes them is apparently a cool social enterprise and Neon Collective are a vegan boutique we all love, so if you’re looking for comfortable, slightly unusual trainers with that hot Brazilian vibe, check these out. They are unisex, too and equally suitable for both men and women in style.
You can get them from the Neon Collective site.
There generally seem to be a more exciting selection of vegan shoes for women than for men, but here’s a pair of nice alternative commando boots for the guys that are 100% vegan and not too over the top.
I got an email a few days ago from Fantasy Shoes who sell these and many other alternative vegan styles made out of lorica. This style caught my eye. Shame it only comes in man sizes!
You can see the full range of their vegan styles here. I’ll most likely write about more of them in the future.
At the moment, the vegan styles are all black, but the are looking into offering other colours in lorica, depending on how much interest they get.
This particular boot you can get from the Fantasy Shoes site.
Oh these are very cool. They are officially unisex, which means you can get them in women’s sizes too, though I think they are really more manly than girly.
They come in a few colour and material choices, but so far this plaid fabric option is the only vegan style. They’re certainly pretty amazing, though, these. I totally love Fluevog shoes and I’m really glad there’s at least one vegan style for both men and women (though I’d love to see plenty more).
If your inner hipster has been withering away inside, in need of some really hot vegan shoes to wear, then these are totally it. Although they are effectively simple casual shoes, they do it oh so well with that extra bit of X-factor most shoe companies would kill to have.
You can get these from the Fluevog site.
Well, to be honest, these vegan Toms (that’s what these shoes are called) don’t look particularly exciting. It’s just that today is a very pretty sunny day and I’ve just spent a few hours looking for more interesting vegan shoes and didn’t find anything particularly exciting. I want to go out into the sun, so here’s some summer shoes for the blokes. Check these out and I’ll be on my merry way.
These, while simple, are actually quite cool. They are made by a company in LA that actually gives back to the community by donating a pair of shoes to a needly child every time someone buys a pair of their shoes. I think if you’re in the market for some vegan loafer-like shoes that are casual and comfortable, you may as well buy from an ethical company that helps poor children.
I quite like the funky lining too.
You can get these from Schuh.
OK. These are totally awesome. Yes, all these are the same shoes. They’re just that awesome.
They’re basically 4 pairs of shoes in one and they are all pretty damn funky if you ask me. They are made by a German company called Nat2. Nat2 also make other kinds of convertible shoes, including trainers that turn into outright sandals.
I prefer these though, cause the trainers look very cartoon-like, but in a good way. It’s basically like wearing Optimus Prime on your feet, if he were made of canvas and rubber.
You can get these from Coilexstore.com. It helps if you speak German.
I’ve also seen a bunch of these for sale for only 20UKP on Mozimo, but in a limited colour range.
Here’s a cool pair of vegan brogues for the guys. I’d say they’re more in the realm of work shoes than, say, the ultra-cool vintage brogues you’d wear with your zoot suit, but they are still pretty funky.
I really like the pattern both inside and out and the pointed toe is cool. It’s second only to the rounded toe in my book (I loathe square toed shoes for blokes). All in all, these are actually pretty retro and smarter than the Vegetarian Shoes brogues I wrote about a while back.
If you’re a vegan guy looking for a cool pair of shoes to wear with your suit to work, etc. then you should definitely take a look at these.
They’re made by NOHARM who are 100% vegan, ethical and cool. Handmade in Italy.
You can see these on the NOHARM site where you can find out where to get them.
So, the other day I was out hiking with my cousins while my house was being robbed… No, that’s not some funny blog thing. Some fuckers actually broke in and stole some important stuff, including the laptop I use to do things like write this blog. But, as they say, the blog must go on…
I realised I don’t actually have any proper hiking boots and these vegan hiking boots by Vegetarian shoes caught my eye. They’re unisex, though they look kinda manly and they are sturdy and hard wearing, plus generally pretty hard. Great for hiking and kicking things while pulling your hairs out thinking about all the stuff you had on your PC that some wanker is now looking at instead of you (or kicking the people who stole my stuff in a very non-pacifist way if I ever got anywhere near them).
But let us get onto cheerier things, as these boots actually deserve a happy blog post. They are of very high quality, as the veggie shoes stuff always is, plus they are 100% vegan and ethical. I’ve been hiking with my Nova boots, which are nice, but not exactly trailblazing boots when compared to these. Sure, the Novas are sexier, but they’ll never hold you the way these do…
I found these on Mooshoes , though you can also get them directly from Vegetarian Shoes.
Oh I do like the Macbeth trainers / sneakers / skate shoes for the boys. They are just so… understatedly cool. It’s like the people who designed them know they’re just shoes and that shoes should know their place, but they also know that people often judge you based on your shoes, even if it’s only as part of the grander scheme of what you’re wearing.
These are black, simple and sexy but are just real sweet at the same time. If you wore these and wanted people to know you were vegan, you’d have to wear one of those “nobody knows I’m a vegan” T-shirts (do they exist? I think they probably do).
These are just so much about having the sort of super cool skater or grungy look thang that no one would think anything of it and you wouldn’t get instantly tagged as a vegan anarchist. See? Understatedly cool…
You can get them via Mooshoes.
Well, these unisex trainers are definitely unusual. They’ve been around for a while. I remember seeing them a few years back on a site and thinking they were odd but cool or cool but odd. I think even though they are officially unisex, they’re really more shoes for men, cause they don’t look particularly girly, do they? Then again, if they go with your look, then they go with your look, right?
They are by Adbusters, who are pretty damn cool, so you should check them out regardless of whether or not you like these particular shoes.
The shoes are… Well… We’re back in love em or hate em country but I’m still sort of on the fence deciding which way to fall.
They are very much in the vegan anarchist activist territory, which can be both good and bad, depending on whether that’s decidedly your style or a stereotype you’re trying to free yourself of.
Either way, they’re very different and we do like shoes that are different here in this blog, don’t we?
You can get these from Mooshoes.
