Old leather seats are bound to live again. In fact, Alice + Whittles, a Canadian company specialized in the manufacturing of socks and shoes, is going to revive the luxury seats of European cars to be scrapped. For the records, they have just launched on the market their “Minimalist Luxa Sneaker” new model.
About its peculiarity
The peculiarity of these shoes is their manufacturing: in fact, they make them by using recycled leather taken from the old seats of European cars. They process materials to turn them antibacterial and breathable, without any chemicals though. In the end, they add, to complete the sneaker, a rubber sole – either black or white – and cotton shoelaces. They produce the “Minimal Luxa Sneakers”, whose selling price is 160 US dollars (they are for sale online), in Portugal: a family-run company, based in the city of Porto, manufactures them manually. They employ local workers exclusively.
A responsible mission
The company is deeply committed to the environment safeguard. Such commitment is actually the core of the policies of the company, founded in 2014 by Sofi and Nick: they first met each other during their working cooperation with the United Nations Refugee Agency. That experience with the United Nations Organizations did help them understand the effects of fashion industry, in particular the fast fashion one, on the workers and the environment. Such is the philosophy of Alice + Whittles: “sustainability can be achieved without sacrificing style and functionality”. For the very first time they have been creating some leather shoes, therefore opening to a traditionally natural, durable and environment-friendly material.
