Little Steps, Big Impact: Vegan Children’s Footwear
You would think that considering the vegan footwear industry for adults has taken off, that for children it would follow closely behind. In fact, this post took a lot of work, to find just a few brands of quality shoes.
Firstly, let your children go barefoot where safe to do so (unless diabetic) to make sure their feet get air and room to grow. And take them to a shoe shop to get their feet measures, to avoid the hassle of returns, when shopping online.
Here are some of the best quality vegan footwear brands for children on the market right now. All these are made from quality materials including eco-recylced faux leathers. Many stores have regular sales, to save money for families on a budget.
Why choose vegan footwear for children?
Most leather is not a by-product of the meat industry (which for some parents is an issue in itself). Most brands source leather from the Far East, where there are few animal welfare laws (and often not many for humans in factories either – the tanning industry is also very polluting and carcinogenic – can cause cancer).
Quality vegan shoes are usually made from Microfiber, which is easy to clean with a damp cloth.
Also read our post on natural rubber wellies, for splashing about!
Paizo (cute vegan children’s shoes from Greece)
Paizo offers cute vegan sneakers and sandals, from a country that has a long history of making quality shoes in family-run workshops. Greek vegan brands often work closely with local makers, helping to keep these proud traditions alive.
Many use recycled plastic, cotton or cork. This keeps waste low and helps reduce the carbon footprint of each pair. As Europe does not offer half-sizes, go for a size up rather than down, to avoid squashing little feet, and just wear thicker socks.
Vegan sneakers for children
Shop Like You Give a Damn is a European online vegan fashion store that sells vegan children’s sneakers by Zeta and also sells Will’s vegan school shoes (below).
Startrite sells nice vegan sneakers for boys and girls (not just school shoes). Note they say their sneakers are machine-washable. But due to synthetic materials, do so in a microfiber filter, to stop microplastics leaching from washing machines into the sea.
Little Wanderers also has a range of vegan footwear for children.
Will’s Vegan school shoes (and other brands)
- KiddyKind offers breathable vegan school shoes, for fresh feet. These water-and-scuff resistant shoes are made in Europe.
- Will’s Vegan School Shoes offer quality brogues, lace-ups and ballerina pumps, all made from Microfiber, sent in zero waste packaging and sold with long guarantees.
- Startrite sells vegan school shoes, though they are likely not as eco-friendly as those offered by Will (but more affordable for the everyday parent). You can also buy vegan school shoes from Toe zone.
Why don’t Clarks’ sell vegan children’s shoes?
You would think that the best-selling brand of children’s shoes would offer alternatives to leather. But no (it did oncec collaborate with a children’s clothing brand to make eco-vegan sneakers) but has now pulled them from sale.
The brand also had to quickly pull a range of children’s shoes, after calling its girls’ Mary Jane shoe ‘Dolly Babe’ and the boys’ version ‘Leader’. You can imagine the furore.
Reima (vegan children’s snow boots from Finland)
Reima (Finland) makes a range of ‘barefoot shoes’ all from eco-friendly vegan materials. The range includes lots of nice sneakers and winter snow boots (this is Finland, for goodness sake!) The shoes have good water-resistance and wide toes for extra room plus flexible soles, all designed to support normal growth of a child’s feet.
Happy Little Soles is the UK supplier (along with other European brands).
