Support the local business series #5 WAIR
#5 WAIR
UPCYCLING FOR MODERN SNEAKERS AND CIRCULAR FASHION
Wair wants to contribute to a circular fashion industry, by utilizing textile waste to create sustainable, modern and unique sneakers for the conscious consumer.
Q&A
1) How did Wair start out?
Wair started as a combination of realising how unsustainable sneakers are and seeing how many textiles are being wasted every single day. This turned into a university project, which explored the opportunities in upcycling of textiles and later turned into Wair – sustainable shoes from upcycled textiles.
2) Which SDG’s does Wair tackle and how?
We mainly tackle SDG 12 and 13. We do this by upcycling textile waste, which reduces our need for new resources while also diverting valuable materials from landfills and incinerators by giving them a new life. Apart from this, we also host upcycling workshops, which serve as a platform to create awareness and educate people about the textile waste issue and the possibilities of a circular fashion industry.
3) How is the COVID 19 crisis affecting your business and how have you adapted?
It is mostly affecting our production and workshops. We finished our crowdfunding campaign just as corona hit Europe. So right when we were going to start production, our suppliers in Portugal and Italy started closing down one by one. This has of course been a very difficult situation for us, but we keep pushing and are doing the best we can to be able to deliver the shoes to our backers as soon as possible. For the workshops, we had to cancel all of them, but have started to host online upcycling workshops instead.
4) How can individuals support Wair?
We would love for you to follow along on our journey on social media – maybe even sign up for our newsletter. Then we will let you as soon as we have some upcycled sneakers ready for you to buy and some upcycling workshops on the programme that you can join!