What materials go into a Terra Plana shoe?
A lot of different ones. The mainline uses vegetable tanned leathers and is hand-stitched, so there are no toxic glues involved. We’ve sourced old rubber straps and car tyres to make the soles for the Worn Again shoes. We’ve just started working with a new type of recycled mesh, we use recycled nylons and synthetics and our reconstituted latex now includes recycled rice husks. We’re constantly trying to redefine how shoes are made – at the moment we’re trialling a recycled plastic fibre core instead of cardboard and metal for shoe heels. Metal is the thing you can’t recycle, so by replacing it we can make a fully recyclable shoe. How do you go about designing Terra Plana product? Our design principles work on the basis of the five senses. Our shoes have to look modern in design and relevant to today’s fashion landscape. They have to feel good to wear – there is nothing worse than not wanting to walk to the Tube in your shoes in the morning. We have a policy of using minimal toxins and
