Latest tweets from Veja
Find out more
Veja
Made in Brazil from Amazonian wild rubber
Veja is a French footwear and accessories brand. In Brazil, it also goes by the name of Vert. The business was founded in 2004. Veja’s founders Sébastien Kopp and François-Ghislain Morillion meet with organic cotton farmers in North Brazil and wild rubber tappers in the Amazon (Seringueiros) to establish the production chain behind Veja in Brazil.
Veja creates sneakers in a different way, mixing social projects, economic justice, and ecological materials. It uses Brazilian and Peruvian organic cotton for the canvas and laces, Amazonian rubber for the soles, and various innovative materials conceived in recycled plastic bottles or recycled polyester. The sneakers are produced in high-standard factories in Brazil. Part of Veja’s logistics is managed by Log’ins, a professional and social inclusion company.
Veja sneakers and accessories are made of organic cotton, wild rubber from the Amazon, vegetable-tanned leather, and recycled plastic bottles.
- Organic cotton: Veja works in the North-East of Brazil with a co-operative of organic cotton farmers. Over 320 families have adopted the agro-ecology farming model with the technical support of the local NGO, ESPLAR. Cotton and food crops are cultivated without chemicals or artificial pesticides. Veja buys organic cotton at around twice the market price.
- Vegetable-tanned leather: Since 2006 Veja has used vegetable-tanned leather. Vegetable-tanned leather is a chrome-free leather tanned with organic compounds only. Leather is usually tanned using heavy metals, like chrome, which generate high levels of pollution in the waters close to tanneries. Veja has replaced heavy metals with acacia extracts, a natural tannin.
- Recycled plastic bottles: Veja uses waterproof bottle mesh on the soles of sneakers. It takes three recycled plastic bottles to make a pair of shoes. Bottles are collected from the streets of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and are later crushed and transformed into fiber.
Veja shoes are made in South Brazil respects the standards of work established by the International Labour Organization. Products are transported by ship from Brazil to Le Havre in France, where they are then taken to Paris by boat. Logistics are managed by Ateliers Sans Frontières, a French social association which enables people who have been unemployed to return to the workforce through training.
In 2005, the company made its first official launch at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris. Growing its influence, the company collaborated with French fashion designer Agnès b. In 2006, the company developed their first collection using vegetable-tanned leather, and has since began curating the photography exhibition Novo Mundo(S) at Wanted Gallery, Paris.
In 2007, the company began its collaboration with French label Comptoir des Cotonniers, launching its first collaborated product Veja + Christine Phung collection at the Pompidou Centre Design Shop in Paris. The business began expanding into the children’s trainer scene, with the launch of Veja small.[5]
In 2008, the company began its expansion to London, opening its studio there.Through time, the company has released a wide variety of different products and styles, ensuing talks of collaborations with third party organisations.
Seeing record moves of progress, the company began its new wave of collaborations, beginning with Regina Dabdab. In 2013, the company released a capsule collection of printed trainers, inspired by professor Greg Asner’s aerial maps recording forest cover and biodiversity in tropical forest ecosystems. With the launch of the film Once upon a Forest, by French director Luc Jacquet, Veja commemorated its launch by releasing a custom trainer.
In 2018, the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle wore a pair of Veja sneakers to watch an Invictus Games sailing event during the official tour she took through Australia, New Zealand and Fiji with her spouse Prince Harry.[16]
In 2019 the brand launched a collaborations with Rick Owens, Madewell and Lemaire.