BED|STÜ - Sole Focus: Sustainability

January 10, 2020 By Alexi Tolosa

Sustainability in Our Heart and Sole

Here at BED|STÜ, we take pride in crafting high quality, sustainably sourced and ethically produced leather goods that look and feel good. Our footwear and accessories are made from natural, organic material, free of toxic harsh chemicals and heavy metals. In turn, this means our products are safer and better for you, our workers, and the environment.

One way that we craft sustainable footwear is in our construction and design. We use the entirety of the hide to craft the body of our pieces, rather than getting rid of the pieces that have imperfections. In addition to reducing waste, this also creates unique textures on our product that will develop a unique patina depending on your use.

We also craft our soles with sustainability in mind, using recycled material and renewable practices.

Fan favorite MANCHESTER uses a Goodyear-welted outsole

THE GOODYEAR WELT

Welt: a strip of material, stitched to the shoe’s upper, insole, and anchor point (known as ‘the rib’), that acts as an attachment point for the outsole.

Developed by Englishman Charles Goodyear, Jr. in 1869, his process of attaching the outsole to the shoe enabled footwear to be resoled when worn down, allowing one’s beloved, perfectly broken-in shoes to have up to decades-long lifespans.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

You can keep your favorite shoes by resoling them! By resoling your shoes, this allows you to keep shoes for multiple years, it reduces individual waste produced from throwing out multiple pairs of shoes that may not have as long of a lifespan (and who wouldn’t want to keep their amazing NANDI’s forever?!)

Is my favorite shoe Goodyear Welted?

You can tell if your shoe has a Goodyear Welt by turning it over so the outsole is facing you. If there is threading around the outer edge of the outsole that pierces the welt and is visible running parallel to the upper, then the answer is YES, your shoe is Goodyear Welted and can be resoled by a professional cobbler when the time comes!

Most of our most popular styles are constructed with a Goodyear Welted outsole, either made from leather or rubber. Check out these styles that feature a Goodyear Welt construction!

Our women's wingtip Oxford, LITA
Women's fan favorite, JUDGEMENT
Men's best seller, PROTEGE

XL EXTRALIGHT foam, created from industrial plastic waste, comprises our durable yet lightweight outsoles.

XL EXTRALIGHT© Outsole

The explanation of what XL EXTRALIGHT© exactly is can sound a little complicated. I’ve translated it into easily digested, plain English below!

What is XL Extralight?

XL EXTRALIGHT© foam is a plastic-based foam, derived from industrial production waste and shaped into its outsole form via injection molding. The foam is free of harsh chemicals and heavy metals such as lead, nickel, mercury, formaldehyde, phthalates, PAH, benzene, CFC or vinyl chloride.

TLDR (too long, didn’t read); Produced by Italian company Finproject and composed of chemical-free, eco-friendly cell foam, XL EXTRALIGHT© is a patented material used to make durable, weather-resistant and lightweight outsoles.

Most notably, our platforms feature an XL EXTRALIGHT© outsole, but the material can also be found in sandals, and men's boots and dress shoes. Mix up your wardrobe with these styles!

Women's lace-up creeper boot, ELISHA II
Women's platform short boot, LYDYI
Women's platform sandal, FAIRLEE II
Men's lace-up boot, BRADLEY II

Sustainability is a hot topic in this day and age. With the emergence of heated discussions on climate change (yes, it’s real!!) and the effects that human behavior has had and will continue to have on the environment, small positive changes to our consumer behavior can add up over time. Making the investment in high quality goods that are made to last is one way to help reduce the impact on the environment by creating less waste from not having to replace products that wear out quickly.