Behind the craft

Behind The CraftBehind The Craft

Behind The Craft

To create the best footwear, we work closely with the artisans in our very own factory and our suppliers from across the globe.

 

Our Factory

A portion of our footwear is made by the skilled craftspeople in our own factory in Chang-An, China. We set up this operation a few years ago to gain control of our product and ensure good working conditions for our talented team. It also allowed us to establish a set of values with the team like we have in New Zealand and Australia and we are so proud of the culture they have created.

Our FactoryOur Factory
China TeamChina Team

We work incredibly closely with our team in Chang An; including daily video calls with our New Zealand design team and regular visits to work with the pattern cutters, last makers and leather resources to keep a close eye on our development, quality and production. This means we have full control of the development of every part of the shoe, from the last shape, fit and leather selection, all based on the feedback and response from our customers.

The Chinese government has introduced very stringent labour laws over the last 10 years. We’ve summed up a few important notes on our factory:

  • We have attained Health & Safety accreditation
  • We have attained Fire Safety accreditation
  • We have attained Volatile Organic Compound accreditation.
  • We provide accomodation and meal allowances for all team members.
  • We use government entitlements for all team members. This is a graded wage scale dependent on their skill level. We do not hire anyone in our factory under the age of 18.
  • We are currently in the process of obtaining a SEDEX social accreditation. We will keep you updated on our progress here.
Upgrading SolesUpgrading Soles
Printing & PackagingPrinting & Packaging

Packaging & Printing

The process of transporting our footwear from China to New Zealand and Australia is very important to us so that our footwear remains in perfect condition for when you first open the box of your new pair of shoes. We have recently made important adjustments to our packaging to improve our impact on the planet. This includes removal of polystyrene stuffing in our factory in China, ending production of polypropylene non-woven bags and replacing our silica gel packs with a more considered option, Micro-Pak. All our Deuce boxes are made with recycled cardboard with a carry string, so you don’t have to take another carry bag when shopping in-store. All of our Isabella Anselmi boxes are now also made with recycled cardboard. We're currently working on creating recycled packaging for shipping our online orders. We will keep you updated on our progress here.

In regards to printing, one of our latest steps was the removal of mailed seasonal catalogues and loyalty booklets to move to digital. We are saving approximately 5 tonnes of paper per year by making this change. We will continue to explore more sustainable alternatives for our packaging and printing and will keep you updated as we make these changes.

Our International Suppliers

A portion of our footwear is designed by our team in New Zealand then crafted in our factory in China, however we do source a selection of our footwear from family owned factories across the globe who also share a skill and passion for the craft that is, creating footwear.

Our SuppliersOur Suppliers
Our International SuppliersOur International Suppliers

We regularly communicate with our suppliers in Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Italy and beyond - all countries renowned for their shoemaking artisans with generations of experience and traditions in crafting high quality leather products. We carefully select suppliers who align with our brand and values, and to offer our customers an extensive range of the highest quality footwear. We state the origin of the shoe for every product, search our website and find out!

We order relatively small quantities and in the case of European factories, we are ordering products that align with the end of their seasonal manufacturing. Once we have selected product and agree upon terms of trade, we request our Supplier Code of Conduct to be signed and all audits and accreditations relevant to their own National requirements to be supplied. We endeavour to visit all European factories we work with at least annually depending on the seasonality of their product. We have contacted all our international suppliers for social accreditations and sustainability initiatives, and we have an ongoing goal to ensure all of our suppliers sign our Supplier Code of Conduct. View our Supplier Code of Conduct here.

Our International SuppliersOur International Suppliers

Our Materials

We choose leather as our key material when designing & buying footwear due to its durability, easy care and ability to mould to your foot. We work closely with our suppliers to source the best quality leather, and every hide we use is inspected by hand. Unlike other brands, you won’t find any fillers, surface layers or plastic coatings on our leathers. We use several different types of leather, and tanning processes can create so many different looks; smooth and shiny, vintage or casual. Stretch leather, suede, nubuck, canvas, patent leather - we carefully curate the perfect finish on every shoe. We're transparent with the upper, lining and sole materials for every pair in our collection, just search your favourite style and find out!

Our MaterialsOur Materials
Our Bio Veg FabricOur Bio Veg Fabric

We are commited to exploring sustainable & ethical alternatives for materials on our footwear. Bio Veg, is an innovative leather-look material made out of Bio Polyols with elements derived from plants. The main raw material is field corn! We sourced Bio Veg from an Italian supplier named Coronet and can be found on our sneakers, Jax and Jango. We are currently exploring more styles using this fabric. All of our new Deuce sneaker designs for 2020 onwards with a canvas upper will be made with canvas made from 65% recycled cotton. 

Many of our Made in Turkey styles are made with vegetable dyed leather. The dyes are derived from naturally occurring vegetable colours and are used instead of a chemical or chrome process to colour the hide. The dyeing leads to unique and subtle colours which lend themselves to the soft tanning technique unique to Turkish tanneries.This process is also significantly more environmentally friendly than chemical and chrome techniques.

Made in TurkeyMade in Turkey

Our Soles

The soles of our shoes are made with 3 different types of materials: resin, leather or rubber. We carefully select the sole material based on the styling of the shoe.

  • Resin is a synthetic polymer that mimics a natural leather sole found on many of our women's heels. It's easy to care for and long lasting, however we do recommend applying Sole Grips for extra traction.
  • Rubber soles are comfortable, but also add a lot of grip & flexibility. Our Deuce sneakers have vulcanised rubber soles; a process using heat and pressure to make the rubber stronger and pliable.
  • Leather soles are a true sign of premium quality as they mould to your foot. After 1-2 wears, we recommend taking the shoe to our Workshop to get a rubber sole applied once the shoe has perfectly moulded to your foot.
Our SolesOur Soles

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