SOURCING & SUPPLY CHAIN
WF
16
Sustainable shoe on
show at Fimec
F
ootwear manufacturer Priority Group used the
2011 edition of the Fimec exhibition in Novo
Hamburgo, Brazil, to launch what it claims is a
100% sustainable sports leisure shoe. One of the
principal components is chrome-free leather from
Brazilian tanning group Bom Retiro. The shoe upper
combines flashes of the leather with textiles..
Priority developed the shoe under its West Coast
brand in partnership with a local consultancy, Coelho
Assessoria, and the Brazilian Institute for Technology for
the Leather and Footwear Industries (IBTeC). In spite of
an ongoing debate about the environmental impact of
the chromium used in the tanning industry, an IBTeC
chemistry consultant, Morgana Streicher, told
World Footwear
that the project
management team believed the
chrome-free leather from Bom
Retiro would help
enhance the sustain -
ability credentials of
the shoe. She said
concerns about
chromium VI
developing were
prevalent among many
big-name retailers.
Pairs of West Coast sustainable shoes were distributed
to the poor in host city Novo Hamburgo.
CREDIT: CLAITONMEDINA/WIKIMEDIA
Chrome-free leather and organic cotton
stitching were part of the West Coast shoe.
CREDIT: FIMEC
Sixty companies contributed
materials, machines and know-how to
a demonstration area at Fimec 2011 to
show off new techniques for footwear
manufacture. One of the products on
show was, according to the
organisers, a wholly sustainable shoe.