VEJA may not be your go-to just yet, but, there are ample reasons as to why you should consider adding a pair of Campo, V12 or V10 into your wardrobe. With transparency being a vital part of VEJA’s ethos, we find the footwear brand to align with our own attitude quite nicely.
So, is VEJA sustainable? Is VEJA vegan? Is VEJA a comfortable brand to wear? Let’s find out...
VEJA and Production
To kick this one off, let’s translate the name. What does VEJA actually mean? VEJA is Brazilian for the word, ‘look’ - an insight beyond just footwear, a dive into how they’re made and why millions of people are rocking VEJA everyday. Ultimately, VEJA’s honourable transparency puts particular focus on a handful of questions, a number of which you can explore with us today.
Production takes place across South American, setting up shop in Peru where cotton is planted, harvested and transformed into yarn before heading in Brazil’s direction. Now, Brazil is where the magic happens; local farmers harvest their crops of Amazonian rubber for assembly in Porto Alegre, using even more yarn produced within the country and woven together further south.
VEJA pay more, as their farmers deserve more. With greater financial security comes a willingness to drive VEJA’s story and support their cause - ultimately, being a better working life balance for the producers themselves! In 2021, VEJA were paying farmers almost 50% more than market price per kilo of cotton, and that’s been their average markup since 2017— they’re not playing around.
Looking after the VEJA family
The standard VEJA style costs five times more than ‘big’ brands to produce based on their production chain and researching of technologies alone. If VEJA were to use less socially and environmentally responsible factories across Asia, each pair would cost around 5.30 Euro, whereas VEJA’s Brazilian factories are paid 18.21 Euro. Let that sink in.
At the time of writing this, 100% of VEJA’s logistics and Parisian touch-points are managed by a team called Log’ins - who, in themselves are prioritising social and professional integration. More than that, throughout 2012 163 Log’ins employees were recognised as disabled; it’s their priority to provide a stable role before finding another job elsewhere.
VEJA transparency, environmentalism and fair trade
But, VEJA is no stranger to looking after their people. Since 2004, they have been applying the fair trade principle from the ground-up; working directly through producers instead of utilising a middleman, pre-financing each harvest by up to 50% on occasion and purchasing organic cotton one whole year before it becomes a trainer.
That way, they remove all guesswork after signing a two year contract and their producers can plan a life without worrying about finances. The money is coming, don’t worry! Reinvestment is just around the corner.
VEJA look after their producers and materials with equal levels of love, all of the cotton used bears an organic certification - as do the brand’s new Peruvian partners.
So, when you look at it that way, why haven’t you got a pair of VEJA in your rotation? Well, you can learn a little more about the brand here, before finding your favourite pair over at tower-london.com.