Walé is an elevated and sustainability committed sneaker brand, with a focus on end-of-life solutions.
We create stylish, versatile, comfortable, durable and affordable sneakers with committed values and transparent sustainability at the core.
The challenge is to design ecological and responsible end-of-life solutions for these high-frequency-used basics from the beginning, and plan to take them out of the environment. This is what sets our brand apart. We have designed recycling and circularity from day one. No landfill, ever.
- Listing ID: 2402
- Contact: Solenne Kamba
- What are your aspirations and plans for the future?: Our mission is to champion end of life solutions—to make it easy and accessible. Over the next five years, Walé would like to pilot and power the circular model with strong technology. More specifically, we will start by launching a Recycling Programmes with TERRACYCLE UK. This way customers can send back their sneakers when they are no longer wearable, and we will reintroduce them in future collections. With redeemable incentives, this programme is the core of our values. Eventually, the product journey will be available on a backend digital closet for transparency around product and material circularity. On the rigorous road to become a B Corporation company, we also want to make sure that we’re using Carbon offsetting measures to minimise our impact as early as possible. Further down the line, we will launch subscription refurbishment kits to extend product life (the“cobbler model”) for sneakers through the DTC lens. On a bigger scale, and beyond our 5 year plan, we’re looking to develop patented technology for on demand production.
- What types of projects are you interested in working on through Future Fashion Factory?: We’re looking forward to collaborating with professionals in the industry within the FFF network, particularly on our circular model needs (research and application) along with our branding and communication strategies. Through Future Fashion Factory, we’re specifically looking to execute our circularity-led and TerraCycle-approved prototypes into our production, as well as apply our sustainability focused go-to-market strategy and test-out on demand personalisation and production.
