Best ethical trainers
If the nineties were the decade when trainers and the sweatshops behind them were exposed, the noughties are the one where ethical alternatives landed in shops. We've rounded up four very different ones below, but one thing is the same throughout -- they have to look hotter than retreating glacier ice to make our grade.
All the trainers we've looked at have made some commitment to eradicating the sort of sweatshops that led Nike boss Phil Knight to famously admit his trainers had "become synonymous with slave wages, forced overtime and arbitrary abuse."
Some brands, such as Worn Again, have its UK staff in factories for long periods to monitor working standards as well as quality. Others, like Ethletic, pay its factory workers a premium that they describe as fair trade. All are made in Asian and South American countries, from China and Pakistan to Brazil.
Trainer brands are greening up their souls and soles too. While some of this is at a corporate level -- carbon offsetting, for example -- all of these shoes feature materials with some eco creds. Organic cotton, recycled materials, FSC-certified latex and Amazon-saving rubber are just some of the ones used here. Ethletic and Veja also pay some of their raw material suppliers a welcome premium over the market rate.
Other enviro efforts include avoiding glues where unnecessary (Worn Again), using chrome-free leather (Veja) and using materials sourced nearby factories (Worn Again) to cut down on carbon miles.
Last but not least, there's the animal question: are these shoes vegan, or what? Ethletic are the only pair here with one hundred per cent vegan trainers -- the rest use leather in some way, even if it's recycled leather.
Now take a seat, and see which pair fit you best.
Ethletic Classic Low Cut Sneakers
Levi's Another Life Trainers
Veja 'Volley' Trainers
Worn Again Escape Trainers
