On site at nae in Portugal
Location: Felgueiras, Portugal
Production volume: approx. 350 pairs/day
Factory size: 30 employees
Wage: Above the government's recommended minimum wage for the industry
Average industry wage: approx. € 740 to € 1,500
AVESU ON SITE // NAE
THERE FROM THE START AND ALWAYS ONE STEP AHEAD
A VISIT TO NAE IN PORTUGAL
The Portuguese label NAE (No Animal Exploitation) has been involved from the very beginning. NAE has been offering vegan shoes since 2008 and was thus one of the first brands to find its way to AVESU. Today, NAE is an integral part of AVESU's product range, with a huge selection of nearly 90 products, including shoes, vegan backpacks, wallets, and belts.
The models are inspired by current fashion trends while remaining practical for everyday wear. "Veganism shouldn't dictate your style, quite the opposite!" says Paula Pérez, expressing the goal of her brand: Veganism shouldn't limit what we can wear, but instead inspire us fashionably. To live up to this claim, NAE offers almost everything, from classic pumps and sneakers to heavy-duty combat boots. This also explains the success of the brand's own store in Lisbon, which has enjoyed great popularity even beyond the vegan community since its opening in 2019.
For many years, AVESU co-founder Thomas Reichel and NAE founders Paula and Alex Pérez have met regularly, whether at Fashion Week in the vegan food mecca and AVESU hometown of Berlin or for a more relaxed gathering in the comparatively leisurely Portugal. They discuss new models, fashion trends, vegan innovations, and planned collaborations. In spring 2016, Thomas used his visit to gain insight into one of NAE's production facilities.
The factory, which produces up to 350 pairs of shoes a day and has been collaborating with NAE for many years, is located about 40 kilometers from the capital, Porto. Thirty employees work on shoes for NAE and other brands in a space of approximately 500 square meters. Portugal's economic situation is still not exactly optimal by European standards. Income is low, as is its economic strength, and unemployment is high. The average wage in the country is around €1,150 a month, and the government-recommended minimum wage is €700 a month. A production worker typically earns between €740 and €1,500, depending on work experience, length of service, and position. This puts Portugal only slightly above the Balkan states and the former USSR. While this may not sound particularly appealing to employees, it is usually attractive to companies. After all, low wages are available right here in Europe. However, it seems that it is not the low costs that are primarily attracting companies here, but rather the tradition of the shoe industry in this westernmost of the European countries.
Young European brands in particular value the expertise of the local industry, which offers quality, short transport routes, and low costs while still meeting labor standards according to EU guidelines. Rui Riberio sees this theory as proven in NAE's partner factory. The factory pays its employees more than most competitors, and the loyalty of its customers shows that they seem happy to pay more for quality and good wages.
NAE also chose Rui's factory with this in mind. But fairness isn't the only factor. As one of the first factories in Portugal, it recycles car parts and processes them into new materials that can then be used in shoe production. The factory also recycles offcuts from its own production and uses them to create new materials for a wide variety of applications. With the exception of the pineapple fiber Piñatex®, which is imported from the Philippines, all materials come from Europe. A definite plus for an environmentally friendly brand like NAE.
Quality and integrity are equally important to NAE founders Alex Pérez and Rui Riberio. "In principle, we can make any shoe vegan," says Rui. Nevertheless, he guarantees his customers, like NAE, for whom he currently produces 10 models, that each design remains exclusive to the brand. "We offer our customers quality and uniqueness. We don't want them to have to compete with each other, and they appreciate that."
The production of the shoes themselves is partly machine-based and partly handcrafted. Pattern design, material selection, production of the individual parts, and final gluing or sewing – all steps are meticulously executed and quality-checked. Much of the work is and remains handcrafted, and the employees are visibly proud of their expertise and the tradition of their profession, for which this region is known worldwide.
"Veganism has become a big topic," says Rui. He's currently working on a documentary designed to educate aspiring tailors, pattern makers, and design students about the benefits of vegan materials. "Leather simply has a long tradition in the industry and is relatively easy to work with, so people often resort to it without even considering what alternatives there are. We have so many options, and vegan materials have many advantages, including for us manufacturers."
Rui Riberio
Rui's latest achievement is a vegan microfiber material that is completely biodegradable. And that's no small feat. It's still extremely difficult to simply recycle a shoe, let alone make it biodegradable, simply because of the various components made of different materials: uppers, soles, insoles, lining and padding, as well as eyelets and laces. Shoe soles, in particular, must be made of a material that can withstand extreme mechanical stress and environmental influences. Therefore, for proper recycling alone, a shoe would have to be disassembled into its individual components at the very least. And what about ecological degradability? So far, hardly any upper material is biodegradable at all. Even natural materials like cork or Piñatex® usually have to be coated to withstand environmental influences. A completely degradable material that also meets the high standards of an upper material would therefore be a huge step in the development of sustainable shoes.
Just like Rui's factory, NAE is also working on innovative materials of its own. As one of the first brands, NAE worked intensively with Piñatex®, a fabric made from pineapple fiber. What makes the material so special, in addition to its unique look and feel, is that it is made from the waste from pineapple cultivation. The pineapple leaves from which the fiber is obtained were previously simply burned. Piñatex® gives this waste product a new function, thus saving resources and providing pineapple farmers with an additional, more stable income alongside the seasonal pineapple harvest. Surplus material is used as biofuel and natural fertilizer. "Piñatex® is a big deal for us. Hardly any other material fits our brand like a glove," says Alex Pérez.
Piñatex® production © ANANAS ANAM LTD
Piñatex® in processing
NAE always goes the extra mile wherever possible. The brand's popularity and access to various local shoe factories enabled Alex and Paula to continually incorporate new innovations into their collections. For example, they created shoes made from old airbags. In 2019, the brand launched its RE-MOVE line, featuring two sneaker models with an upper made from plastic waste from the oceans. "When you look at the pollution in the oceans, it's easy to get discouraged," says Paula. "That's why we tried to shift our perspective and see waste as a resource. Being able to return an existing material to the cycle is a huge benefit, and in this case, a necessity for all of our futures."
NAE founding couple Paula and Alex Pérez © NAE
Paula and Alex, along with the NAE team, work with this mindset every day. The label focuses on accessibility and addresses the questions of its customers. "Never before have we as consumers had so many opportunities to question manufacturers, producers, and brands and to communicate our needs. And never before have so many brands risen to the challenge of meeting these needs. We want to be one of those brands."
Note: This content was originally published on avesu.de and dates back to the time before the founding of Shoes For Society X avesu – a plan(e)t based footwear collective.