For more non leather/cruelty-free leather/synthetic leather/alternative leather/faux leather/non-animal leather/vegetarian/vegan shoes and accessories in India reviewed in this blog, you can click the story, "Who Pays For Your Leather Shoes?".
A few days back, the shoes worn by a vegan friend at a vegan food binge caught our eye. They were pristine white, classy, and anything unlike we had seen before. One glance and you would wonder what they are made of. Looked plastic-ky but way too sophisticated for a plastic with excellent finish. We were told this is the women’s range of “Crocs” shoes and they are vegan! Crocs, the name rung a bell. Like most, we were under the impression that Crocs is a euphemism for perforated bright colored beach shoes! However, when we visited one of the Crocs stores, we were amazed at the variety and the riot of colors; it clearly appeared that Crocs wants to diversify their portfolio and be known as a company that makes more than just colorful beach shoes.
On digging deeper, we found that the Crocs range was founded by three American friends with the objective of creating unique spa or beach shoes. Unlike most American companies, this is a relatively young brand, which will celebrate 10 years of existence next year. It is amazing that in merely 10 years one can find a pair of these colorful Crocs in almost any part of the world. On wearing one of those, the first thing that came to our mind is how snuggly they fit in the feet. Light and sprightly.
What are Crocs shoes made of?
Now that is the question that is foremost in a vegan mind. An email from a company spokesperson as well as salespersons at the Crocs store confirmed that Crocs shoes are primarily crafted from a material called croslite. Croslite is a proprietary resin substance made from a polymer by the name of ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA). EVA is sometimes more popularly known as “foam rubber” or “expanded leather”. We were told that the women’s and children’s selections are made of the croslite material; however a few designs in the men’s range use a strip of animal-derived leather. It is easy to bypass these designs with non-vegan strips. The salespersons guide you at the stores. For a glimpse into the myriad Crocs designs and their prices, you can click this link on the Crocs website.
Where are Crocs shoes available?
Crocs shoes have become so ubiquitous that it has given birth to a counterfeit look-alike industry where the products may be available at cheaper prices. If you want to purchase the authentic version of Crocs, you will need to go to the exclusive Crocs stores. Presently, Crocs has stores in 12 cities in India: Amritsar, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Jalandhar, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Noida, and Pune. For the store addresses, you can click this link on the Crocs website.
Additional information
One of the most striking features we feel about Crocs shoes is that they constrict or expand to match the shape of your feet. The Crocs website confirms that “Croslite works to the wearer’s best benefit because it forms to the wearer’s feet and, therefore, offers the best support to individual’s unique feet shape”. So even when you are jogging, the shoe would never slip out, rather stick to your skin snuggly. And when it is maintenance time for the shoes, all it needs is a stream of water that can clean it for the next use!
As we speak about Crocs, a dialogue from the film, Forrest Gump comes to the mind. Forrest says, “Those are magic shoes, they could take you anywhere.” Quite so! You could slip into one and wade into any surface—land, water, mud, slush, beach, party, and even your office. They just work. Most importantly, barring a few designs, everything else is vegan!
“By having reverence for life, we enter into a spiritual relation with the world.” ~Albert Schweitzer, German Theologian, Philosopher, and Physician~
0 comments:
Post a Comment