the next step in climate conscious footwear

Having a clear focus on doing good for the climate gives us clarity and inspiration with every aspect of what we design and what we do. 

By breaking every element down to consider its impact on the climate we developed a set of guiding principles. These are not defined by industry norms or driven by creating marketing headlines but are founded upon scientific research and the belief that it’s possible to do things better by looking deeper and working harder.

This meant bold decisions like avoiding leather, it also meant months of research and development to find solutions to avoid harmful plastics. Keeping our focus on the climate gave direction and created opportunities to discover new ways to use carbon absorbing raw materials. The chance to explore upcycled, would-be waste materials not requiring extra land, water or fertiliser to produce also became a key focus in working with natural cycles rather than against them.

These principles drove our decisions as small as what thread we used, through to our minimal packaging right up to our commitment to offset one tonne of carbon dioxide for every pair we sell. 

The task was complex, having a purpose kept us going.

We started aspect because we wanted to make a meaningful contribution to the fight against climate change. We weren’t comfortable with the footwear industry being at odds with this problem. We wanted to change that.

Because we built aspect from the ground up, we were unburdened by history or customer expectations. We are able to do things differently.

Despite our experiences of the industry, we approached the problem from scratch and with open-minds, examining every aspect of the shoe and relentlessly experimenting until we found solutions we were happy with. Shoes are complex, but this gave great scope to change how things were done. 

We won’t rest here. When you look at your shoes, you look at the Earth. For us this provides constant inspiration and motivation to continue to improve.

While the fashion industry is built around newness for the sake of newness, our growth as a brand will happen in a very different way. Our progress will be as a result of partnering with pioneering innovators and constantly questioning ourselves of how we can use creativity as a means to fight climate change.

Our dedication to only using the best materials throughout our shoes for their impact on the climate comes at a cost.

Natural rubber costs more than synthetic petroleum-based alternatives, cork reinforcement costs more than plastic, natural latex padding costs more than EVA, the list goes on and on. There is no way around the fact that by working with pioneering material innovators and traditional artisans our shoes cost more to produce.

However, without our uncompromising ideals we are nothing. Without our principles we’re cheating our customers and cheating the climate.

For us, doing things better also means making our shoes to the highest standards in an environment that fosters innovation and precision. We believe in working with the best and paying fair prices.

We want a direct relationship with our customers. We created aspect with the purpose of creating change, but we can only do this together. Therefore, we have a direct model meaning no middlemen and no extra mark ups. Just a fair price for all involved.

For us, creating aspect meant moving beyond doing enough to write an advertising headline and challenging ourselves to do things better. This meant looking at every aspect of our shoes and considering its impact on the climate.

We don’t think we’re perfect. Perfect doesn’t exist. But we do think we are doing the best we can at the moment and are committed to continually questioning everything we do and its impact on the world.

With this in mind, we are clear about not only what we do, but also why we do it. This is to empower people to understand and question a world that has sadly been obscured by marketing headlines and a culture of token gestures. 

We want to change the narrative from trying to sell shoes to communicating facts about every aspect that goes into their creation.

The decisions we all make now will have a significant impact on the future of the world, the least we can do is be honest and open to allow truly informed choices. We believe this is the only way to be fair to ourselves and our climate.

aspect was created when Alex and Dominik teamed up.

We had different experiences of working in the footwear industry but shared a vision for challenging how things are currently done and wanting to make a difference.

Alex, with his background in design and development, and interest in sustainability, conservation started by breaking the design down to its individual elements, working with innovative suppliers to find the most climate friendly options possible.

Meanwhile, Dominik, a fourth-generation shoemaker had the challenge of working with the craftspeople in his family factory to bring the shoe to life.

By partnering, we had a unique opportunity to challenge every industry norm, to experiment and to find solutions to difficult challenges. Because we’re working with Dominik’s small-scale, family-run factory, we’re able to focus on quality and small production runs. This allows is to continually question what we do and continue to innovate.

Crafting shoes this way also means we have complete visibility of the factory conditions, ensuring that our shoes are made in the spirit of the brand. The former college building is flooded with natural light and has air purifying plants through-out.