Rapanui & Ethletic
Something about these shoes by Rapanui and Ethletic, pictured above, seem very familiar to me. They really remind me of something, but I can’t put my finger on it. Oh yeah, these are EXACT REPLICAS of the Converse Chuck Taylor. Listen, say what you will about these guys aping the Converse stitch for stitch, but you can’t patent a shoe design right? *Correct me if I’m wrong there* Plus, there are more than a few of us out there who want to buy from companies that are 100% vegan, environmentally friendly, and free trade.
Yes, Converse makes iconic shoes, but they are 1) a global conglomerate, 2) who doesn’t give a crap about the environment or their workers, and 3) and are NOT VEGAN. Yes, I said it. I have been reporting Converse shoes on here regularly but I recently learned that they make no guarantee that their canvas shoes are vegan. The best you can hope for is that your Chucks were made in a factory that uses water based glues instead of animal ones. What a let down.
But on the bright side, there are the subject shoes. Both are actually made by Ethletic Footwear (a brand under the Autonomie Project, which makes other fair trade, eco + animal friendly clothes). Rapanui is a UK based clothing company with a surf bent that collaborated with Ethletic for these two colorways. Apart from the extra army green model and the Rapanui branding on the tongue, I don’t see what the difference is. But, importantly, the Rapanui models are sold in the UK so for our European friends out there, it could be easier and cheaper to get these shipped to you.
Check these out at Ethletic (multiple colorways) and Rapanui.
Tags: Ethletic, Fair Trade, Rapanui