Janiqueel takes a close look at a casual shoe brand with a difference.
Indosole is a certified B Corporation — one of over 2,500 companies using business as a force for good in more than 50 countries. Our certification in 2014 is proof that we meet the rigorous standards of social and environmental performance required by the nonprofit B Lab. We are transparent with our operations, routinely providing glimpses of our production process on our social media platforms. We are proud to be a B Corp.
So many retailers and manufacturers have
jumped on the ecological bandwagon in the last few years that it’s difficult sometimes to take their claims seriously. INDOSOLES, though, seem to have earned their street cred – and they’ve done it with STYLE! They feature an array of slides and flip flops
for women, men, kids, and groms. (I had to google “groms”. I found a handy addition to my slangy vocab.) That said, I have just received a pair of slides in a moss green color – Leaf. I’ll book a gig in Bali soon and I can’t wait to sport these stunners on
the beach or around the resort.
Bali plays a part in the Indosoles story. On a trip to Bali years ago, Indosoles founder Kyle Parsons paid a pittance for a pair of sandals with soles made from old motorbike tires. “Hmmm…” I imagine him saying to himself; what a practical use for old tires! He soon discovered that there are (Ready for a sickening stat?) a BILLION used tires discarded every year. That’s a lot of rubber that won’t meet the road anymore. How could at least some of these tired tires be used to make sporty footwear? We asked General Manager, Jennifer Gregory, about Indosoles. She kindly replied. Here’s her explanation of the process:
Indosole started out cutting the soles of shoes straight from tires. It saved a lot of tires but is a laborious process that also still left us with waste from the cut-offs. We decided we could do away with scraps and could use 100 percent of the tire if we found a way to grind down the rubber into a fine powder and melt it into soles. Through R&D, we developed our own technology which pulverizes the tire into a fine powder and resets it with natural and recycled rubber. This is a malleable gel that is pumped into molds leaving no off-cuts and utilizing the entire waste tire. So far we’ve saved over 80k tires from landfill and this year alone we’ve turned 20 tonnes of tire rubber into soles for new shoes. You can read the full, in-depth story here: https://indosole.com.sg/pages/the-indosole-story-the-most-responsibly-made-flip-flops
Ms. Gregory went further into the sustainability of the company’s products:
As a company, we value reducing waste, fair and safe employment & keeping production 100% Indonesian. Indosole is a B-Corp certified company, which means we measure our company’s social and environmental performance so we’re more transparent and operating better for the planet. Finally, we believe environmentalism shouldn’t be just for the elite. We’ve taken the universal appeal of the flip flop and made it easy on the environment, without the usual cost prohibitions. We want to help people make the seamless shift towards conscious consumption, whilst at the same time, shape the shopping patterns of future generations.
The result of this eco-consciousness is a line of stylish and wearable slides nd flip flops. The latter, Ms. Gregory reports are more popular with men. The former, with women. How to choose? Ms. Gegory: “Some people simply prefer a slide for its versatility with different outfits and it is the ultimate travel shoe. But others still love the flip flop for its timeless utility.”
It’s that “ultimate travel shoe” bit that appeals to Janiqueel. I’ll give mine a try-out in Penang, and in December…
I’M BALI BOUND!!!