Sydney Brown is an American designer of vegan footwear who founded her brand in 2011, with the aim of replying to the demand of many consumers (including herself) for beautiful, elegant, and comfortable footwear manufactured without the use of genuine leather. In other words, footwear respectful of animals and the environment. Her creations start from attentive research and quality control of materials and is characterised by a basic and essential style, which takes its inspiration from a minimalist Japanese aesthetic the designer became quite familiar with and fond of while living in Japan for ten years. Right from the start, this mix of minimalist design and an eco-friendly approach made her luxury footwear one-of-a-kind and extremely popular with a vast public. In fact, the small workshop she started off with in Los Angeles with around ten artisans was soon transferred to Portugal, not far from the Iberian Peninsula where most of the cork used in her footwear originates.

Material processes are essential: in addition to cork, we find coconut used in the insoles, wood for the soles, as well as recycled and sustainable uppers. Plus, Sydney has completely taken apart the shoe in order to identify, piece by piece, all of its parts and accordingly select suppliers that use only sustainable production processes. Often, when she was unable to find them, she had to make the components of her shoes herself, starting with the metal casting and the development of the adhesives. As an ex-dancer, the tactile sensation is particularly important to her, and so she aims to create footwear perfectly suited to movement and to the foot wearing it.

Is this vision of Sydney a dream or a future reality? Creating a completely oil-free line with 100% traceability and zero environmental impact.