Upcycling
Upcycling consists in recycling materials or products that have fallen out of use in order to turn them into higher quality or more useful products.
Plastic bottles, cotton recycled from textile industry cuttings, recycled polyester: our recycled materials give household waste a second life, and allow us to create a range of fabrics according to season and use.
B-Mesh :
From recycled plastic bottles to innovative sneaker
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B-Mesh launch video
© Ludovic Zuili et Simon Buisson
VEJA is the first sneaker brand to use fabric entirely made from recycled plastic bottles and recycled polyester.
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The B-Mesh is a fabric entirely composed of recycled polyester (polyethylene terephthalate or P.E.T).
It is both lightweight, breathable, and waterproof.
This fabric is created from recycled plastic, carefully collected, sorted, and then transformed into plastic flakes. These flakes are then extruded to become a polyester fiber. The production process of B-Mesh involves environmentally friendly transformation.
© Studio VEJA
The Hexamesh
© Studio VEJA
The Hexamesh is a mesh combination of two threads layered together. The resistant base is made of recycled plastic bottles and the top layer of knit is a hexagonal pattern made of organic cotton.
It is composed of 70% organic cotton and 30% recycled plastic bottles and is made in Brazil.
Turning waste into innovative materials
Several types of recycled and transformed materials are used in our sneakers.
The flannel we use is 100% recycled.
It's made with both recycled cotton and recycled polyester (PET).
2021 Autumn - Winter lookbook
© Vincent Desailly
We also use recycled cotton in several of our sneakers. Recycled polyester, in jersey form, is used to make sneaker linings in many of our styles.
A leather alternative: theC.W.L
A lot of people speak about the vegan trend, a trend of leather substitutes. Unfortunately, plastic is a 99% petroleum-based material and it is often overused as a leather alternative. We follow an ecological purpose so replacing it by polymer materials has never been an option.
Finding an ecological alternative to leather was a primary objective for VEJA.
This is why in 2019, VEJA launched one of its first models in C.W.L., a vegan and bio-based material, back then produced in Italy.
But if it was one step further at the time, we failed in tracing the cotton used for this canvas-based material. The cotton used for the canvas was not organic.
So we decided to reinvent the C.W.L. in 2020 and trace it even further. Months of research gave us a better composition now produced in Brazil, where VEJA sneakers are made.
© Studio VEJA
© Studio VEJA
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C.W.L. FACTORY
This new C.W.L., 54% bio-based, offers the same texture, smoothness, and impermeability as leather does. It is made with 100% organic cotton canvas bought directly by VEJA and coated with PU, ricinus oil, and corn starch.
Our 100% organic cotton is produced in Brazil and Peru by the producers VEJA works with since its inception.
This material opens a new exciting path for VEJA: to go beyond leather.
