We had great discussion a few weeks ago when we posted TutuLorraine's Shoes: Smart over Stylish piece. Now we follow up with GWEB member Beckham_Fan's review of the new Hush Puppies line, which manageds to be both!
Hush Puppies Expands HARMONY Footwear Lineby Beckham_Fan
Interested in eco-friendly footwear? Me too. Trouble is, green, fashion forward styles and brands can be difficult to find. Hush Puppies, however, have created a new line of eco friendly footwear for men, women and children. While they are a bit pricey, they are totally worth the expense.
With the highly successful launch last fall of the HARMONY Women’s line, Hush Puppies expanded that line recently to include men and children. The shoes are comfortable, stylish, and made out of eco-friendly materials, such as bamboo, light recycled foam for the footbed, and comfortable rubber outsole, made with natural rubber and jute, which is a vegetable fiber, very soft and shiny, and produced in quantities that make its production rate second only to cotton. The uppers and linings are made from soft, breathable materials like cotton, hemp, suede and leather, the last two from ISO 14001 approved tanneries. ISO 14000 is a an environmental standard created to help companies and organizations reduce their unhealthy impact on the environment; ISO 14001 is the standard against which societies and associations are evaluated.
The expanded women’s collection includes the introduction of heels, a style that I LOVE; and you can feel great about wearing them, too, because they are made out of materials such as rubber crepe outsoles. The rubber, by the way, is 100% natural. Another featured style is a leather ankle boot (another of my all time favorite styles) which uses recycled elastic goring (“goring” is the technical term for the stuff the basically gues two part of an upper together; shoes which goring have more flexible openings and often make laces unnecessary). The collection also includes a ballet flat and a clog, both employing the use of recycled rubber outsoles cushioned with natural fibers. And, instead of using cements to attach the uppers to the outsoles, they are sewn together. And of course, the t-strap flat from last season is coming back with its gorgeous topstitched leaf pattern. Sounding cool, huh?
The newly introduced HARMONY kids collection has everything from athletic to formal. The big standouts to me are a mary jane flat, a sport mule, and a sport boot. All use organic cotton wrapped Poliyou (an open cell Polyurethane), recycled foam footbed, and is moisture wicking and breathable.
Other standouts include a hook-and loop fastener contrast suede sneaker, which is stain scuff, and water resistant, a mini wedge mary jane made out of an eco-friendly upper material, and a boy’s shoe. The latter is extremely cool because the each size fits both medium and wide width foot, simply by taking out the midsole.
The all-new HARMONY men’s collection features hand stiched uppers to eliminate the need for glues and cements. The shoes are a clog, a moccasin, a lace-up and a chukka (shoe with leather or plastic uppers that fits below the ankle, with a heel made out of a harder material). They give cool detailing using eco-friendly products such as a tree bark tread rubber outsole; another interesting detail is the rice husk inserts. These give a really interesting, cool visual, and provide awesome durability.
The eco-friendliness doesn’t stop at the shoes, however; the packaging of the shoes includes materials such as soy-based inks, recycled paper, and adhesives with a water base. And the tissue paper for wrapping the shoes is unbleached!
My overall assessment of the HARMONY shoes are that they are both a sensible and stylish choice. While they are expensive, I think that it is worth the extra cost, because you can feel good about the fashion choices too, and know that what you are wearing is not harmful to the environment. GO ECO-FRIENDLY FASHION!
Sources: Hush Puppies press realease
About.com
thefreedictionary.com
jonesandvining.com
