VIRÓN: the brand transforms food waste into trendy shoes

For the planet, the animals and the people. This is how Virón, the Parisian vegan footwear brand, launched in 2020, thinks, creates and sells.

It’s not the first time we heard of emerging brands with an eye to the environment, indeed, we are now bombarded with new labels that make sustainability their identity. But in a panorama that’s now so vast and varied, why did we, of Wait team, choose to tell you about Virón?

There is a reason, and that’s what caught our attention. Virón, unlike other brands, manages to make room for itself and distinguish itself from all the others thanks to the use of generally unusual materials.
Plastic bottles, military tents, recycled cotton and rubber are just some of elements take on new life with the Parisian brand, becoming avant-garde shoes: the highlight is definitely food waste.

The brand’s favorite leather substitute is in fact made with food waste, apple peels and corn husks thus become the raw material for footwear.
Up to thirteen plastic bottles are recycled in each pair of shoes to produce faux suede, and all soles are made from recycled rubber while the uppers, linings and insoles are made from recycled canvas.
Upcycling cannot be missing, which sees the reuse, thanks to the collaboration with various warehouses in Europe, of excess military supplies reused in new uppers.

The streetwear brand leaves nothing to chance, all the dyes are in fact ecological and vegan, often coming from food waste or flowers.
Every little detail is also studied in packaging, as well as shoes shipping box, which consists of a recycled and biodegradable cardboard box secured by a 100% plastic-free adhesive tape without addition of external packaging or additional waste.

Virón thus undertakes to use almost completely recycled and certified vegan and PETA materials which, for those who don’t know, is an international association with the aim of protecting animal rights around the world, investigating the origin of the various products in trade.
The brand has also designed a closed-circuit system giving the buyer the opportunity to return their old pair of shoes in order to give it new life.

But it’s not just the materials that make Virón unique. What differentiates the brand it’is also the choice of making it a boast trying to overturn the codes of fashion as much as possible, placing the components of the shoes in plain sight, right next to the sneakers.
It’s no coincidence, in fact, the brand claims that information equals power, making total transparency its workhorse.

And you, what do you think? Would you ever buy a pair of shoes made with apple peels?

To know more:

Instagram: @viron_world

Website: viron-world.com

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Posted By

Cristina Crippa

Laureata a pieni voti in fashion styling and communication presso la Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti di Milano. Indipendente, dinamica e determinata, ma soprattutto, innamorata follemente della moda in ogni sua sfumatura.