VAER x FOLKEKIRKENS NØDHJÆLP

Turning leftover jeans into upcycled sneakers

Fighting textile waste with a unique story

Folkekirkens Nødhjælp and VAER have joined forces in the name of upcycling - and have designed a collab sneaker with unsold jeans from Folkekirkens Nødhjælp's second hand stores, giving these textiles a new life. The employees of Folkekirkens Nødhjælp have helped with the pre-production of the designs.

The collaboration makes great sense, as we are both giving new life to a lot of denim, and all of the profits from the sales go to the organization's important agenda and helping people in need. Especially in a time like this, when money is being taken from NGOs, it becomes even more important to support their work to help the world's most vulnerable!

A meaningful collaboration

We can't imagine a more meaningful collaboration - where environmental and social sustainability go hand in hand. VAER and Folkekirkens Nødhjælp are driven by a shared passion for good design, as well as making a difference for the planet and people in need.

“By combining our strengths, we show that fashion is not just about style, but also about taking responsibility and making a real difference for both our society and the environment.” Peter, Folkekirkens Nødhjælp

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Curious about the collaboration?

FAQ

Who is Folkekirkens Nødhjælp and why are we working with them?

Folkekirkens Nødhjælp is a humanitarian organization working to support the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. Rooted in Christian values and driven by a commitment to dignity and justice, Folkekirkens Nødhjælp provides emergency relief, supports sustainable development, and advocates for the rights of marginalized communities.

VAER has chosen to work with Folkekirkens Nødhjælp in order to support their cause - the shoes are sold on their own webpage, where their profits will go to support their projects around the world.

What is the shoe made of?

The upper is made from discarded jeans as the outer, and used tablecloths as the inner. The sole is made from 56% recycled rubber, the laces from 70% recycled cotton and the insoles are made from natural latex and natural fibres such as Kenaf. You can read more about the materials here.

Are these sneakers really sustainable?

Sustainability is difficult to define - but what we can say is that the sneakers have a lower environmental footprint than your conventional sneaker. We have used the same approach and most of the same materials in this sneaker as in our normal models - where the goal is to make the sneakers as sustainable as possible throughout the entire lifecycle. However, we have been able to use a variety of different textiles in this collaboration - which is also why there are so many outcomes of the same sneaker...

This means that apart from using textile waste for the upper, we use e.g. soles made from 56% recycled rubber and laces from 75% recycled cotton. And we don’t stop there, for us it is not enough to prevent textile waste from being wasted, we also want to make sure that our sneakers don’t end up as waste - so our sneakers can be recycled after you can’t use them anymore.

You can read more about the materials in our sneakers, where they are being produced and so on [here]. 

How many resources have this collaboration saved?

By using discarded used jeans from Folkekirkens Nødhjælp instead of new textiles, we have saved around 153.7 kg.Of CO2 eqv.

These numbers are based on WRAP scientific article that states the environmental footprint (in CO2 eqv.) of different textiles. Also an overview here.

Calculations: Since we use 98 g. of textiles per pair of sneakers, we have multiplied this with 52 pairs (= 5.5 kg). Then we have multiplied this with the numbers from the cotton eqv. (since the textiles we use for these sneakers are mostly denim, which is often 100% cotton). This equals 153.7 kg of CO2 eqv.