Our Materials
Why Cruelty-free Leather?
We are trying to change people’s perception of man-made materials. People still equate leather with quality. This is not true. There’s a ton of horrible quality leather, and much of it isn’t a by-product of the beef industry. This kills the argument that animal leather is part of the food supply chain.
Many will argue that man-made leathers are created with harsh chemicals and non-organic materials. This is also not true. Right now, there are leather alternatives made from pineapple, mushrooms, and other natural, organic sources.
And we are not alone. Many countries now require man-made leathers pass intensive testing and certification processes. This stringent oversight doesn’t apply to animal leathers, so there’s no guarantee to their environmental impact.
To get a full understanding, watch this documentary SLAY.FILM
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Our Vegan Leather
We currently use 2 types of vegan leather.
[1] Solvent free and low on PU content, our vegan leather is the finest eco-friendly polyurethane microfiber based material. We selected them because they are leaders in their field of synthetic leather. They are fully traceable and are very aware of the environmental impact these kinds of materials can have. So they make sure they do their best to lower their carbon footprint and chemical emissions.
[2] Veganpine bio leather / (USDA Application# 11284) made from bamboo, apple and agricultural waste endorsed by USDA. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) product label displays a product's biobased content, which is the portion of a product that comes from a renewable source, such as plant, animal, marine, or forestry feedstocks. Utilizing renewable, biobased materials displaces the need for non-renewable petroleum-based chemicals. Biobased products, through petroleum displacement, have played an increasingly important role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that exacerbate global climate change.
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Our Sport Foam Insoles
We work with an American-based supplier that ensures their manufacturing facilities around the world processes and reuses wastewater. When the recycled water can’t be reused, their system converts it into solid refuse that is treated to the strictest environmental standards.
Their proprietary plant-based bio-oil comes from castor beans. Castor beans are a non-food source that doesn’t compete with food crops and uses very little water to grow. This rapidly renewable plant has been naturalized in warm climates all over the world and can grow ten feet in a single
season. Using castor oil reduces the need for petroleum in their foam and uses fewer natural resources to produce.
They also use recycled rubber, keeping over 300 metric tons of rubber out of landfills each year. We get eco-friendly, reduced petroleum solutions to create insoles with uncompromised comfort and performance, while dramatically limiting the impact on the planet.
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Temperature Control in TYLER SNEAKER
Outlast® technology is the only phase change material that carries the Certified Space Technology™ seal of approval. The technology was first developed for use by NASA, and continues to be developed and tested for efficacy and safety, across multiple applications, for major brands around the world. Outlast currently holds over 96 patents related to thermally adaptive materials.
With almost any footwear brand, you're faced with the difficult task of balancing quality and style with comfort. The phase change materials (PCM) in Outlast® technology can facilitate that balancing act by helping to reduce heat and moisture to reduce blisters and increase comfort.