After four years of Research & Development, VEJA launched back in 2019 its first ecological running shoe.
The Condor was born as the first post-petroleum running shoe. Veja’s purpose is to mix performance, bio-based and recycled materials.
Veja extended, sharpened, and improved their line to meet the needs of the runners’ community thanks to their feedbacks.
Since 2004, VEJA has been creating sneakers in a different way, mixing social projects, economic justice, and ecological materials.
VEJA uses Brazilian and Peruvian organic cotton for the canvas and laces, Amazonian rubber for the soles, and various innovative materials made from recycled plastic bottles or recycled polyester.
VEJA sneakers are produced in high-standard factories in Brazil and Portugal. The logistics of our VEJA stores in Europe and e-commerce are managed by Log’ins, a professional and social inclusion company.
Sneakers, impossible to repair?
More than 4 years ago, Veja noticed that people were throwing away their old sneakers and worn-out shoes.
They knew something was wrong; seeing people throw away their favorite shoes with no hesitation, the repairability of sneakers became a real concern for us.
Veja started repairing sneakers.
Only in 2024, 23.9 billion shoes were made worldwide. This is happening because people are buying more shoes instead of getting them repaired. What if we stop buying new sneakers?
Everywhere in France for example, traditional cobblers are struggling. The numbers reveal the story – in recent years, the old-style cobblers have nearly disappeared.
In the 1950s, France had 45,000 shoe repair shops. By 2023, only 3,000 survived. The cost of repairing is not worth the price of a new pair of shoes
For VEJA, change begins with repair.
The VEJA cobbler project
In June 2020, VEJA started a project called “Clean, Repair, and Collect” to make sneakers last longer.
Veja started in Darwin, Bordeaux, by launching our first cobbler station.
For the first time, people began repairing sneakers from all brands.
