Regenerative Footwear Collection
Launched
Earth Day 2022
Shoes made from leather sourced from cows grazing freely on Regenerative farmland in the Swiss Alps.
BEYOND SUSTAINABILITY
Regenerative takes Sustainability to the next step. Sourcing leather from Regenerative Farmland actively contributes towards the regeneration and health of the farmland from which the skins come.
The goal was to set a model for the footwear industry, proving that creating timeless, beautiful, functional footwear from Regenerative sources is viable at commercial scale.
The Capri Regenerative, launched Earth Day 2022, proved this initial goal is possible.
The Mello Regenerative, launched in 2023, pushed the envelope one step further: it is made of majority biodegradable components, most notably the 100% pure Lactae Hevea rubber outsole.
PROCESS
Skins were sourced from cows across many small Regenerative farms in the Swiss Alps. The skins were the natural byproducts of the meat industry.
Small-batch tanning is done at one of few remaining traditional tanneries in the Swiss Alps
Use of traditional tanning agents like natural tree bark resulted in a rich natural “Castagna” color
What sets regeneratively-sourced leather apart from conventional leather?
SUSTAINABILITY
Regenerative Agriculture is a method of farming that actively regenerates and re-fertilizes the land. This means it is efficiently self-sustaining and not simply extractive.
Animals grazed on this land contribute to the grazing and refertilization processes that drive the regeneration.
The traditional tanning process results in a rich color without the need for any artificial dying. The color is a result of the tanning process itself, removing a full step of the production process as compared to conventional leather.
NATURAL COLOR
The full character of the leather is visible. Marks that are normally artificially concealed are embraced as a feature. The result is that each pair is completely unique with subtle differences in natural coloring and surface look and feel.
EACH ONE UNIQUE
MY ROLEAs principal point of contact with our partners in Switzerland, I led and oversaw the end-to-end and pioneering process of acquiring these rare skins on a commercially viable scale and timeline, leading up to an Earth Day 2022 Launch.
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Directed our Production team in Italy and personally oversaw Quality Control
Advised Marketing and other Client-facing departments to help them best educate clients in the lead-up to the launch
Assisted with client questions post-launch
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Collaborated with Merchandising to determine where in the KOIO collection where Regenerative leather would be most suitably launched
End-to-end Design and Development of new styles
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Conducted initial research: spoke with farmers on Regeneratively-managed land in both the US and Europe in order to determine the best way to source at scale
Principal point of contact with our partners in the Swiss Alps- collaborated to understand end-to-end process of acquiring regeneratively-sourced skins, the various tanning and coloring options, and how to work with local and small-batch butchers and tanneries
