Ethical Fashion, Fair Trade & Ethically Made, Inside Out Challenge

Fair Trade Tennis Shoe Crushing

As you all know by now, I am doing a fair trade fashion challenge this year that involves exclusively purchasing fair trade clothing, jewelry, and accessories. I am in need of a new pair of tennis shoes (mine are sporting more than one hole at this point), and was hoping to find a nice fair trade pair to purchase. Ha! I did find some, but they are made in France, and the cost/logistics of shipping them here to the U.S. are a little too daunting for me. But before we get into all of that, join me in crushing on these sneakers by Veja:

Veja Holiday Low Top Black Oxford Grey | Fairly Southern

Veja Holiday Low Top Groseille Nautico Rose Fluo Fair Trade Sneakers | Fairly Southern

If you’ve ever shopped fair trade, you probably know that the number of actually fashionable fashion options out there can be slim. I was impressed by the design of these sneakers! They are actually something I would want to wear.

Veja Holiday Low Top Suede B-Mesh White Pierre Fair Trade Sneakers | Fairly Southern

The price of the sneakers themselves isn’t at all bad: 109€, or $123. However, international shipping is where things get tricky. Veja offers free international shipping on orders over 150€, but unfortunately, only two pairs of  women’s sneakers on the entire website meet that minimum (and neither pair is one I am interested in). So, I would be facing a shipping charge of 25€, or $28. Yikes! Perhaps more daunting to me is the difficulty of returns should the shoe not fit. I would be responsible for paying international shipping AGAIN to send the shoes back over the pond for a return or exchange. This isn’t practical, cost-effective, or wise in my opinion.

Anyone know of other fair trade sneaker brands? Please send them my way! Otherwise, I will be waiting until after my year is up to look into other ethical options or begrudgingly schlep myself to the nearest Dick’s Sporting Goods for a shopping spree.

xoxo Laura

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