Feet of endurance Ethical Veja stands the test of time

Inthe hierarchy of Paris fashion, itis tricky fora brand to stand out, especially one whose coup de maitre isa goes-with-everything white trainer.

- Morwenna Ferrier

Yet 21 years after it first began selling sustainable footwear, Veja has become the ultimate affordable It brand for scooter-wielding parents, green-minded millennials and A-listers who want to wear their values on their ethical leather-clad feet.

The brand’s co-founder, Sebastien Kopp, says he does not know whether people buy his trainers because of how they are made or how they look. Veja is fastidious about social and fairtrade practices, “but because we don’t do surveys, we don’t do marketing, we simply don’t know this information”, Kopp says, speaking in the brand’s Paris HQ.

Veja does not do freebies. When the actor Emma Watson wanted a pair, she did what stars rarely do, “and she bought” them. So did the Duchess of Sussex. “I received anemail from the [palace] asking about them, but | thought it was fake so I didn’t reply,” says Kopp.

The actor Marion Cotillard once listed Veja as a favourite brand alongside Valentino and Alexander McQueen, and it has been reported that it even received a request from the maximalist costume department of Emily in Paris (on this, Veja prefers not to comment).