We don't make shoes at Finisterre. But, when we get the opportunity to collaborate with someone that does, who shares our ethos of building kit with minimal environmental footprint, we dive in feet first. Welcome to our collaboration with the pioneering contemporary cobblers VEJA, and our rugged new trail shoe, the VEJA + Finisterre Fitz Roy.
VEJA + Finisterre: Fair Footwear
30.10.25
3 min read
Written by Danny Burrows
Photography by Landon Copplestone & Adele Gingell
A fellow B Corp business, VEJA has been building trainers since 2004 – their pioneering approach to sustainability and transparency creating lasting positive impact for people and planet. From the beginning they were told that their ‘soil to sustainable sneaker’ business model would never work, but two decades, over 4,000 tons of Amazonian rubber and 1600 tons of organic cotton later, they've proven the doubters spectacularly wrong.
So, what makes VEJA both different and successful? Rather than relying on anonymous supply chains, founders Sebastian Kopp and François-Ghislain Morillion built their own network of suppliers and makers on their travels through South America. It’s an equitable company architecture underpinned by personal relationships and trust, with VEJA paying three and a half times the market rate for wild rubber and organic cotton made by farmers – 50% of which is paid to producers up front.
From Amazonian trees...
To all-terrain tread.
On our visit to the Amazon, we saw firsthand how this partnership model transforms the lives of the people who supply the natural components of VEJA shoes, while enriching the environments where the native rubber is grown. We trekked through virgin jungle, on secret paths that connect the rubber tappers to their ‘mother’ trees. And watched as they ‘tap’ diagonal grooves into the bark to harvest the raw latex, which after processing would make up 50% of the rubber used in VEJA soles.
Tappers extract around 400kg of this sticky gloop over an eight-month harvest period, using a sustainable farming method that allows the trees to heal and ensures the longevity of both the plant and income stream. Also, with a guaranteed return on their harvest the farmers are incentivised to preserve the forests, rather than clearing it for more profitable crops, which in turn safeguards VEJA’s supply of natural rubber.
Similarly, the cotton used in VEJA's canvas, laces and uppers are sourced directly from family producers in Brazil and Chile, in compliance with fair trade principles. These cooperative farms, working hand-in-hand with environmental and social NGOs, employ regenerative and agroecological farming methods that incorporate subsistence crops and complementary plants that reduce the dependence on pesticides. These systems also enhance biodiversity and enrich soils; the opposite of water and pesticide thirsty monoculture cotton harvests that supply 90% of cotton to the world’s fashion industries.
The Fitz Roy's creation story provides a blueprint for how products can be made responsibly, transparently and ethically, while empowering people throughout the supply chain – from the jungles of the Amazon to VEJA's head office in Paris. And it proves that treating every piece of the supply chain puzzle with care and dignity isn't just the right thing to do – it's the foundation for making gear that's truly built to last.
The VEJA + Finisterre Fitz Roy trailblazer. Fair footwear, for wherever life takes you.
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