Vegan skate shoes

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

I wonder who sent him those size 10s all the way from Japan?
All good though because Rothmyer gifted them to me so I was just passing on the love.

Are 420s a good alternative? The sizing was kinda off for me too and I felt that the material on the shiny ones (i.e. the black/ white and the red ones he showed) was a little bit too stiff for my liking, especially when compared to sole tech's vegan suede. Having said that, the all black ones + the new maroon ones that will drop soon are made of synth suede so I'd be keen to try them out (and 1/2 size down)

[Front Crunt]

https://www.etnies.com/us/mens/shoes/langston-x-sheep-4107000548.html?dwvar_4107000548_color=155
https://www.etnies.com/us/mens/shoes/rls-x-sheep-4107000549.html?dwvar_4107000549_color=400

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

yeah, and with that it seems that Etnies is no longer going to do Ryan Lay's pro model which is pretty sad if you ask me...
edit: both of those sheep look extremely flimsy

[Thomas]

Hey pals,
I feel more and more guilty about buying clothes and shoes from brands with hidden working conditions.
A lot of my clothes are second hand, leather/suede/wool free, so in my mind it is OK.

But still, I usually skate Chucks, which are owned by Nike, and really this make me feel bad.
Do you guys have infos about working conditions for skate shoes ? And what about clothes ? I know a lot of Polar stuff are made in Portugal, but it is just the printings ? I know they used to use Guildan shirts, and I guess those are not really ethical...

I also discovered this UK clothes brand, Piilgrim, which seem very nice.
https://www.piilgrim.com/about-1

edit: oh, and also, I've seen that on my Instagram feed the other day and found it very cool :

[talklessSkateMore]

It's an unachievable goal man

We are surrounded by it, it is within the very fundamentals of every single organization we have been born into

Not to mention everything about the board, the spots we skate and the internet we are currently using is unethical

Even if we translate to confirmed ethical clothing and food, we still have to live in their system, their houses, their "job's", their staged "reality"

[reverbtank]

Hey pals,
I feel more and more guilty about buying clothes and shoes from brands with hidden working conditions.
A lot of my clothes are second hand, leather/suede/wool free, so in my mind it is OK.

But still, I usually skate Chucks, which are owned by Nike, and really this make me feel bad.
Do you guys have infos about working conditions for skate shoes ? And what about clothes ? I know a lot of Polar stuff are made in Portugal, but it is just the printings ? I know they used to use Guildan shirts, and I guess those are not really ethical...

I also discovered this UK clothes brand, Piilgrim, which seem very nice.
https://www.piilgrim.com/about-1

edit: oh, and also, I've seen that on my Instagram feed the other day and found it very cool :

There are really no ethically made skate shoes that I know of. New Balance makes some shoes in the US but they aren’t any of the Numerics, just some lifestyle ones and shit and they’re like $150+. The shoes they make overseas are made in essentially the same conditions as Vans, Adidas, Nike, etc... All of those made in shit working conditions for very little cost. Nike gets the brunt of the hate because they had child labor practices in the 90s and as far as I know their current working conditions are in line with most other big brands. Vans is just as bad. Adidas too. I imagine even the “core” brands like Emerica and Straye are just as bad or worse because they aren’t as popular as the big brands and don’t come under mass public scrutiny.

It seems some of the problem with these factories is that it isn’t the companies directing them to be unethical, it’s the factories themselves and corruption in those countries. The companies absolutely benefit from it and turn a blind eye in some cases I’m sure.

What’s the use of a vegan skate shoe if it’s made by someone in conditions worse than the animals used for the suede of the non-vegan version lived in. 🤷‍♂️

The most important thing you can do as a skateboarder is support your local shop and local brands if they exist. As a human, just consume what you can that’s accessible and ethical. Trying in other areas than your shoes is more than most people do.

[brwrxstl]

If you want to be completely technical about veganism, buying vegan shoes isn't really 100% vegan. All of these products where shipped from a factory using fossil fuels. Just saying.

This is one of the most cringe worthy things I've ever seen in regards to cringe worthy things people have said about veganism. Literally dumber than the whole "harvest kills"shit Ted Nugent started.

Fossil Fuels don't even apply to veganism. I mean they're literally called FOSSIL Fuels. Like what in the fuck does the millions of years plus process of the natural decomposition of dead animals have to do with veganism?

[DD]

Hey pals,
I feel more and more guilty about buying clothes and shoes from brands with hidden working conditions.
A lot of my clothes are second hand, leather/suede/wool free, so in my mind it is OK.

But still, I usually skate Chucks, which are owned by Nike, and really this make me feel bad.
Do you guys have infos about working conditions for skate shoes ? And what about clothes ? I know a lot of Polar stuff are made in Portugal, but it is just the printings ? I know they used to use Guildan shirts, and I guess those are not really ethical...

I also discovered this UK clothes brand, Piilgrim, which seem very nice.
https://www.piilgrim.com/about-1

edit: oh, and also, I've seen that on my Instagram feed the other day and found it very cool :

Pas posted photos and videos (insta stories, if I remember correctly) from his visit to the SoleTech factory:

Though it's hard to judge working conditions from the photos, at least they are not afraid to show what their factory and workers look like.

SoleTech's skate teams, products and overall contribution to skateboarding aside, I support them for the following reasons:

- Environmental initiatives: https://soletechnology.com/Pages/Environment.aspx

Their Vietnam factory seems to be following these initiatives as well:

- They give out thousands of pairs of shoes to the homeless every year.
- "Buy a shoe plant a tree" program.

They are still skater owned and Pierre and Don Brown seem like nice people.

I don't think that there is an alternative to soletech in this day and age. So next time consider buying indicators instead of chucks. I haven't skated either of them but indicators might be a good option for someone who likes chucks.

Also, coming back to the vegan skate shoes topic, purchased etnies jameson x sheep recently. Few sessions in and they feel great so far. The extra rubber on the toe does make them look like they could last a while with some shoegoo on the ollie/heelflip area.

[reverbtank]

Sole Tech, like most other companies using cheap foreign labor, use what’s called Greenwashing to divert attention away from the unethical way their products are made both in regards to their affect on the environment and the unethical treatment of the humans making the products. “Plant a tree,” “give away shoes,” etc...

It’s near impossible to find unbiased information on specific factories. When the company owners are gone and the cameras are put away, that’s when these violations occur. According to https://www.ethical.org.au and some German source they use which I can’t read because I don’t know German, Sole Tech has an F rating which is worse than Nike’s D rating. No skate shoe companies listed have above a D rating.

Best case, with confidence you can buy a vegan skate shoe from a handful of skate shoe companies. If human rights are important to you, you cannot confidently support any skate shoe manufacturers as far as I know.

Here’s another site ranking Etnies way worse than Nike.

https://rankabrand.org/sportswear-sports-shoes/Etnies

[DD]

Sole Tech, like most other companies using cheap foreign labor, use what’s called Greenwashing to divert attention away from the unethical way their products are made both in regards to their affect on the environment and the unethical treatment of the humans making the products. “Plant a tree,” “give away shoes,” etc...

It’s near impossible to find unbiased information on specific factories. When the company owners are gone and the cameras are put away, that’s when these violations occur. According to https://www.ethical.org.au and some German source they use which I can’t read because I don’t know German, Sole Tech has an F rating which is worse than Nike’s D rating. No skate shoe companies listed have above a D rating.

Best case, with confidence you can buy a vegan skate shoe from a handful of skate shoe companies. If human rights are important to you, you cannot confidently support any skate shoe manufacturers as far as I know.

Here’s another site ranking Etnies way worse than Nike.

https://rankabrand.org/sportswear-sports-shoes/Etnies

Thanks for the links, found some interesting info, but,

https://www.ethical.org.au Rating is based on https://rankabrand.org/sportswear-sports-shoes/Etnies

In the https://rankabrand.org/sportswear-sports-shoes/Etnies report 35 out of 36 points are marked with a question due to lack of information, which is sucks, it would've been nice if sole tech provided clear reports on their manufacturing processes, but at the same time it does not mean that soletech actually has any violations.

Based on http://soletechnology.com/Pages/Environment.aspx and http://www.soletechnology.com/Legal/sb657.aspx they are alright, however, I cannot but agree with you that you can never know what happens behind closed doors in factories and who knows where the factory itself gets their supplies.

[reverbtank]

Expand Quote

Sole Tech, like most other companies using cheap foreign labor, use what’s called Greenwashing to divert attention away from the unethical way their products are made both in regards to their affect on the environment and the unethical treatment of the humans making the products. “Plant a tree,” “give away shoes,” etc...

It’s near impossible to find unbiased information on specific factories. When the company owners are gone and the cameras are put away, that’s when these violations occur. According to https://www.ethical.org.au and some German source they use which I can’t read because I don’t know German, Sole Tech has an F rating which is worse than Nike’s D rating. No skate shoe companies listed have above a D rating.

Best case, with confidence you can buy a vegan skate shoe from a handful of skate shoe companies. If human rights are important to you, you cannot confidently support any skate shoe manufacturers as far as I know.

Here’s another site ranking Etnies way worse than Nike.

https://rankabrand.org/sportswear-sports-shoes/Etnies

[close]

Thanks for the links, found some interesting info, but,

https://www.ethical.org.au Rating is based on https://rankabrand.org/sportswear-sports-shoes/Etnies

In the https://rankabrand.org/sportswear-sports-shoes/Etnies report 35 out of 36 points are marked with a question due to lack of information, which is sucks, it would've been nice if sole tech provided clear reports on their manufacturing processes, but at the same time it does not mean that soletech actually has any violations.

Based on http://soletechnology.com/Pages/Environment.aspx and http://www.soletechnology.com/Legal/sb657.aspx they are alright, however, I cannot but agree with you that you can never know what happens behind closed doors in factories and who knows where the factory itself gets their supplies.

Thanks! I did notice a couple of RankABrands criteria that they reported as not answered are available on SoleTech’s site in their description. One concerning thing on their own description of what they do to ensure ethical working conditions is they say they do not randomly inspect their own factories. They use a third party company to inspect them.

I think a lot of brands have good intentions, whether it be honest concern or just a business decision. Unless they own the factory or have a physical first party presence full time, the workers in foreign factories are almost certainly mistreated or having wages stolen.

Vietnam is apparently better than China when it comes to worker rights, but Vietnam’s own government is involved with worker abuse like this:  https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2123772/no-human-rights-all-vietnamese-drug-addicts-undergo-work

I wear canvas out so fast and my feet hurt so bad (32 and 20 years of skating) that I just stick with suede Blazer Mids because they last a while and make my feet feel good. I try to make up for it in other areas of my life.

[Thomas]

Thanks guys for all the inputs !
I actually read a lot about Soletech and was wondering if everything they promote was real or just a brand eco-friendly image. It's a shame they didn't give all the info to have a proper ranking, because this kind of data are more and more important for the customers in my opinion (it is for me, at least).

As to answer reverbtank saying that buying vegan shoes is useless if they are made in poor conditions, I will just say that suede shoes are also made in poor conditions (or worse ?) and the leather fabrication, treatment, and dyeing is just the most awful thing for the planet and for the people doing it.
And of course killing animals just to do kickflips with a skateboard is the most horrible and selfish idea to me.

I'm at a point that I'm almost tempted to buy Vegan shoes from "ethical" shoes brand like Veja :
https://www.veja-store.com/en/wata/2050-wata-canvas-black-pierre.html

Skating with those will probably be awful though...

[reverbtank]

Thanks guys for all the inputs !
I actually read a lot about Soletech and was wondering if everything they promote was real or just a brand eco-friendly image. It's a shame they didn't give all the info to have a proper ranking, because this kind of data are more and more important for the customers in my opinion (it is for me, at least).

As to answer reverbtank saying that buying vegan shoes is useless if they are made in poor conditions, I will just say that suede shoes are also made in poor conditions (or worse ?) and the leather fabrication, treatment, and dyeing is just the most awful thing for the planet and for the people doing it.
And of course killing animals just to do kickflips with a skateboard is the most horrible and selfish idea to me.

I'm at a point that I'm almost tempted to buy Vegan shoes from "ethical" shoes brand like Veja :
https://www.veja-store.com/en/wata/2050-wata-canvas-black-pierre.html

Skating with those will probably be awful though...

I get it, vegan shoes are slightly less evil for sure. That said, I burn through them like three times as fast so I dunno. It could be more impactful. I haven’t tried any of eS or Etnies though. Mostly just pro-Vans canvas with the durocaps and stuff. 

[SadandLonely]

Ipath

[Thomas]

Ipath

Ipath were big when I started skating in 2000.
Never bought any of those, now I wish I could get my hands on some !

Expand Quote

Thanks guys for all the inputs !
I actually read a lot about Soletech and was wondering if everything they promote was real or just a brand eco-friendly image. It's a shame they didn't give all the info to have a proper ranking, because this kind of data are more and more important for the customers in my opinion (it is for me, at least).

As to answer reverbtank saying that buying vegan shoes is useless if they are made in poor conditions, I will just say that suede shoes are also made in poor conditions (or worse ?) and the leather fabrication, treatment, and dyeing is just the most awful thing for the planet and for the people doing it.
And of course killing animals just to do kickflips with a skateboard is the most horrible and selfish idea to me.

I'm at a point that I'm almost tempted to buy Vegan shoes from "ethical" shoes brand like Veja :
https://www.veja-store.com/en/wata/2050-wata-canvas-black-pierre.html

Skating with those will probably be awful though...

[close]

I get it, vegan shoes are slightly less evil for sure. That said, I burn through them like three times as fast so I dunno. It could be more impactful. I haven’t tried any of eS or Etnies though. Mostly just pro-Vans canvas with the durocaps and stuff. 

I never tried Vans canvas pro, but I tried the AV rapidweld pro, which were very expensive and lasted me about the same time as Chucks... (approx 1.5 months skating 5-6 times a week).

Still I'm quite curious about synthetic suede like in Ryan Lays or Rileys 2 because I assume they last longer than canvas shoes.

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

Yo! I’m on my phone so I can’t be bothered typing out 17 replies but try eS everstitch if you think you burn through vegan shoes. Also agree on all the good work sole tech does, there’s not many skate shoe companies out there even doing half of that stuff and plus their main company/ head office is company run on solar power if I’m not mistaken? I honestly have no problem supporting them for as long as I skate; they drop vegan models in every drop across all three brands so you can also find something that fits your tastes.

I also have a pair of Riley 2s on ice but not sure if I can skate slip ons anymore

[Chega]

I skated in a new tobacco Riley 2 about three times and they are pretty good. Narrow fit though. Way better than any canvas shoes.

[moonordie]

NB# 420 are the ultimate vegan shoe.
Change my mind.

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

I'm at a point that I'm almost tempted to buy Vegan shoes from "ethical" shoes brand like Veja :

seems to work for this guy:

NB# 420 are the ultimate vegan shoe.
Change my mind.

eS swift 1s in everstitch!
 the 420s have weird sizing and I feel that the harder plastic material versions are too stiff for skating

I skated in a new tobacco Riley 2 about three times and they are pretty good. Narrow fit though. Way better than any canvas shoes.

just copped a pair! how many sessions have you had in yours?

[Raspberries]

Does anyone know if the new Fallen Skate shoes are vegan? I want a pair, I do not support vegan shoes that wear out in 2 sessions,, there is no fucking way I’m buying into this vegan bullshit. Boycott all vegan bullshit. It’s called a food chain, eat meat use the leather for quality American skate shoes!!

[talklessSkateMore]

Does anyone know if the new Fallen Skate shoes are vegan? I want a pair, I do not support vegan shoes that wear out in 2 sessions,, there is no fucking way I’m buying into this vegan bullshit. Boycott all vegan bullshit. It’s called a food chain, eat meat use the leather for quality American skate shoes!!

Dude I got your back, vegan stuff added to the ban list for sure

Gravity, trucks, guitars, wheels that don't comply with spacers, **Illusions and now vegan shit.

This list is ever growing, I trust I have your support going forward. Welcome to the campaign

*Your american product pride is an illusion, we here on the ban this stuff committee do not approve of illusions. Your continued support will not be rejected, but let it be known you will have to supress your irrational/unrealistic support of said illusion

** Illusions now added to the ban list

[FS-OverKOOK]

saw the thread and it reminded me of all of the IG posts that Manderson and his GF/wife make about being vegan and pretty much shaming non-vegans. It just comes off as very hypocritical coming from a pro-skater - I can't imagine all of the trees being cut and the manufac/transport being "good" for the environment. Plus, dude rides for Cons(nike). How much hide do they go through a year? Everything made overseas etc. 

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

Except this thread is specifically about vegan shoes so it’s not like we are trying to infiltrate the regular shoe threads to spread the vegan message or anything. Also, if you subscribe to him and you know he’s vegan, you also know that he is going to talk about that issue right?
The same as if I follow someone who is a feminist; if I didn’t agree with that person’s politics, I doubt I’d be following them in the first place.

As to whether he’s a hypocrite or not, well we all are, that is inherent to existing as a human being. We all draw our lines in the sand and it seems that him and his wife have drawn it at not wanting to consume animals but is he really going to give up his livelihood just to save trees?
Maybe he doesn’t even care about the environment?
Is Kenny Anderson also a hypocrite because he rides for cons and is vegan? Some could argue yes (again, we all are), but he can use his position to spread the message and convince cons to make vegan options. Personally I don’t ever want to support Nike but I have no qualms buying vegan options from sole tech even though I know they also make non-vegan shoes and if I was ever going to support cons/ Nike I’d make sure I was buying Kenny’s shit.

Tl;dr if you are specifically coming into a vegan thread or following a vegan on insta, don’t be surprised if they talk about veganism yeah?

[kneebone]

Also how is cutting down trees not vegan? 

[reverbtank]

I think the more important thing that should unify vegans and meat eaters is that whatever each of us consumes should be created in an ethical, responsible, and in the least impactful way. The worker, the animal and the planet should be treated well.

[kneebone]

Agreed, but this is the vegan shoes thread.  It’s not the fair trade/fair wage, ethical, sustainable vegan shoes thread.  Let’s knock it off with the “well if you’re vegan you must also be _____” and just post shoes here that are not made with animal products. 

[moonordie]

Does anyone know if the new Fallen Skate shoes are vegan? I want a pair, I do not support vegan shoes that wear out in 2 sessions,, there is no fucking way I’m buying into this vegan bullshit. Boycott all vegan bullshit. It’s called a food chain, eat meat use the leather for quality American skate shoes!!

Are you aware that 99.9% of skateshoes are NOT made in "America" right?

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

Expand Quote

Does anyone know if the new Fallen Skate shoes are vegan? I want a pair, I do not support vegan shoes that wear out in 2 sessions,, there is no fucking way I’m buying into this vegan bullshit. Boycott all vegan bullshit. It’s called a food chain, eat meat use the leather for quality American skate shoes!!

[close]

Are you aware that 99.9% of skateshoes are NOT made in "America" right?

please don't feed this troll

[TwisT]

ccs/daddies has the sheep Jameson for 25, hit up tactics for the price match and get the free shipping

[TheCrimsonShroud]

Sole Tech, like most other companies using cheap foreign labor, use what’s called Greenwashing to divert attention away from the unethical way their products are made both in regards to their affect on the environment and the unethical treatment of the humans making the products. “Plant a tree,” “give away shoes,” etc...

It’s near impossible to find unbiased information on specific factories. When the company owners are gone and the cameras are put away, that’s when these violations occur. According to https://www.ethical.org.au and some German source they use which I can’t read because I don’t know German, Sole Tech has an F rating which is worse than Nike’s D rating. No skate shoe companies listed have above a D rating.

Best case, with confidence you can buy a vegan skate shoe from a handful of skate shoe companies. If human rights are important to you, you cannot confidently support any skate shoe manufacturers as far as I know.

Here’s another site ranking Etnies way worse than Nike.

https://rankabrand.org/sportswear-sports-shoes/Etnies

I could've sworn the same folks you're referencing gave Adidas/Reebok a decent rating for their transparency and willingness to observe working conditions in their factories.

I know this site gave them decent marks.