Sweatshop-Free Sneakers???

[supervee]

Y'all were so helpful about my other question thought I'd ask this, too.

DS needs new sneakers. At least that is the only option I can think of. He has to have closed-toe shoes and has to be able to run around. He also gets very frustrated with laces, so those are out.

I hate the idea of buying some that are made under poor working conditions, maybe by other kids.

But I can't find many good choices. The best thing I can find are those by New Balance, because they seem to be making an effort to operate good plants overseas, and they make a lot of their adult styles in America.

Any other choices? I see a lot of crunchy people wearing Keens or Merrill's... are they fair trade?

[Ravin]

What size does he wear? Preschoolians has started making larger sizes. They're a small American company and do custom orders.

Or, if you're willing to spend the $$, a custom shoemaker like nativearth shoes (www.nativearth.com) will make a shoe to whatever specifications you want. They mostly do ren and reenactment shoes, but will custom make more contemporary styles, and have a variety of sole options. Not sure how small their sizes go, though.

I love Nativearth and will give them every penny of my shoe business as long as they're around.

www.nativearth.com

[Mirzam]

I believe Bearfeet shoes are made in Texas. The place that seems to have the most complete line is J-Ray Shoes (http://jrayshoes.com/thmb.asp?cat=9). They are pretty pricey though. I tend to buy Naturinos for my kids. Naturinos are made in Italy and are also $$$.

[supervee]

Thanks! I didn't know that about Preschoolians, but now I know for the younger child. DS's feet are too big. He's in boy's sizes (1).

Naturinos look very nice! They are an Italian company, but the website says they are made in 85 different countries. Do you know if that means locally to the country you are buying them. I can't see any "fair trade" info on their site. ???

He looks too big for JRay, but again for DD thanks for the info!

Ravin, DS really wants those Jester shoes at Native Earth.

I usually avoid all this by getting ones at the consigment stores, but at this size, there are few to be found.

[Mirzam]

Naturinos look very nice! They are an Italian company, but the website says they are made in 85 different countries. Do you know if that means locally to the country you are buying them. I can't see any "fair trade" info on their site. ???

I am not sure. I looked at six pairs of Naturino shoes that we have here and only one pair (that I could see) was labeled with place of manufacture: Italy.

[Throkmorton]

DS's New Balance runners were made in USA, and the company seems to have a pretty good code of conduct for it's suppliers.

[supervee]

LOL. Okay, this means I probably have to actually GO to a store and look at some shoes, instead of trying to do it online. That's a good idea to look at the label. This gives me a start, thanks!

[zoebird]

No sweat shop has all sorts of products!

[supervee]

I was just looking at the Preschoolians website at the yummy shoes for DD, and I noticed this on the FAQs page...

"The way that we are able to offer the largest selection of soft soled baby shoes for indoor and outdoor use is because we make the shoes after you order them. We have a very unique manufacturing process which has the shoes made in 48-72 hours. The shoes are then shipped with other orders from our factory in the Far East to our office (this is a 2-3 day process) and then shipped from our office to you..."

Doesn't look like they are made in America, bummer. (Not that they are necessarily sweatshop, but I don't see a guarantee.)

This search is so frustrating! :|

[supervee]

We found some New Balance sneakers, though made in China, at a resale shop in the right size. Kind of-sort of a happy solution. Off the hook for another year! (I'd still love any more ideas for fair-trade sneakers!)

(from DS)

[anamama]

The shoe thing is so hard. We've been getting by with a pair of soft star play shoes and english wellies and some Sorel snow boots from the thrift store. In the summer, he wears soft star sandals and crocs (his crocs were made in USA, although I've seen them made in China).