How Veja’s Emphasis on Transparency and Sustainability

Cemented them in the World of Fashion

Veja Co-Founders, Sébastian Koop and François-Ghislain Morillion share their “simple”
solution on creating sustainable products

In 2003, Veja co-founders found themselves following a social audit for AlterEco, the first
French fair-trade brand. Sébastian and François-Ghislain saw firsthand the benefits of fair trade
pushing for fairer exchange between producers and consumers.

With that experience they were moved to reinvent one of the most symbolic objects of our
generation, sneakers.

When asked why sneakers Sébastian Koop said, “Because we love them, we wear sneakers every
day. And as a consumer product, it stood as a symbol for our generation: we were the ones
wearing sneakers in the 90’s, when they became massively popular and went from sports fields
to the streets”

A year later in 2004, Sébastian and François-Ghislain were 25 years old with no money but an
abundance of support. So, they flew to Brazil, because it is a country that has all the raw
materials needed to make shoes and factories that protect their workers.

Their mission was to reinvent the production cycle of a sneaker from the raw materials all the
way to the finished product. To have a positive impact on the environment and society. “We
want to create products that not only respect people but the environment in dignified working
conditions and pay” said Sébastian Koop

First, they found themselves in the Amazon

rainforest among the seringueiros, rubber
tappers that live in and from the Amazon
trying to live in harmony with it. Together
they work towards harvesting rubber from
rubber trees that later becomes the
cornerstone of Veja sneakers, representing 20
to 30 percent of all Veja soles.

Then, they traveled to Northeast Brazil, by the

Atlantic coast where it is hard for anything to
grow except for cotton. There they met their
Figure 1 Seringueiro tapping a rubber tree
organic cotton producers, supported by a local
NGO. Who grow agro-ecological cotton, that makes the best use of the land which actually
makes the soil richer instead of harming it, and without the use fertilizers or pesticides.

In their first contract, they paid twice the market price for the organic cotton. The producers did
not understand why they were overpaying but finally agreed and Veja co-founders bought three
tons of organic cotton abiding by fair trade standards which became the upper of their first
sneakers.

Following the production path, they found themselves in the South of Brazil in Porto Alegre.
Where there are shoe factories, with strong social rights and unionized workers and that’s where
they decide to manufacture their sneakers.

Finally, they travel back to Paris, where they meet with a social reintegration organization that
later became their logistics provider.

Veja’s story was not easy, they faced many obstacles and challenges along the road, “Every day
gives us 1000 reasons to lose hope, but we keep on going” said François-Ghislain Morillion
when asked about the early stages of Veja.

Over the years Veja has maintained those initial

relationships and continue to grow and work
together. Veja has grown and developed new
sustainable methods. From their leather sneaker that
are tanned using a vegetable process to their
development of B-mesh that is entirely made from
recycled plastic bottles.

Veja continues to reinvent what it means to be

transparent and sustainable. Everything Veja does
wrong is posted and published as a testament to do
better. Focused on being present and real, Veja: in
Portuguese means “look” which is exactly what co-
founders Sébastian Koop and François-Ghislain
Morillion continue to do with Veja. Looking to
connect great projects to one another.
Figure 2 Veja Co-Founders François-Ghislain Morillion
(left) and Sébastian Koop (rigth)