A more transparent brand of social entrepreneurship showing you exactly how shoes change the world
A couple of months ago, Truly Deeply director David Ansett, posted a blog on TOMS Shoes, an altruistic organisation that donates a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair of shoes purchased.Belgian shoe brand, JoJo, picks up where philanthropic companies like TOMS leave off. Designed to look like a bandaged foot, for every pair of Jojo shoes purchased, they plant one tree or provide one person with a year of clean drinking water. But unlike these other organisations, you don’t have to just take the company’s word for it; the enterprising young pair behind Jojo offer full transparency and allow customers to track the progress of their contribution well after the point of purchase.
With a “choose, act, check” tagline, Jojo co-founder Matthieu Vaxelaire explains that the last step—following the progress of your contribution—is the most important part. In the future they envision shoes labeled with unique codes that buyers can use to locate via GPS the well or tree they helped fund, “to really see their personal impact.”
As designer Joachim explained, “What I liked about the project, even before designing the shoe, was the idea of being able to combine fashion and ecology in a single product. Now that it exists, it’s the coherence of the whole project that is striking. You only have to look at it; this shoe speaks for itself.”
Made in China, in natural cotton, the range is produced in conditions that respect both the workers and the environment. Three different ranges of colours, ‘basic’, ‘plain’ and ‘pop’, so that anyone can find a shoe that fits. To help with the replanting of trees in Niger or the building of water pumps in Sierra Leone, purchase one of seven styles of Jojo shoes. All you have to do is simply choose the colour, decide which project to support and then check in online to follow its development.
In a world where money, power and personal gain is so highly sought after, it is so wonderful to see brands embracing a new reason for being; others. JoJo isn’t after profit, it’s sole purpose is to make the world a better place. We could all learn something from this dynamic team and their desire to bring social entrepreneurship into the every day.
For ideas on how your brand can incorporate a social stance into the everyday, why not give us a call.
Nikki Williams
Client Account Manager
Originally spotted on Cool Hunting.
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