Juntos Enters The Sustainable Footwear Market With The World’s First Shoe Made With Alpaca Fleece
Juntos shoes, Inspired by Ecuadorian Street Shoes, are Made with Sustainable Materials that include Alpaca Wool, Coconut, Sugarcane and Banana Trees
Juntos, a new sustainable footwear brand dedicated to protecting the planet launched its first sustainable collection providing consumers with the world’s first to market Alpaca fleece shoe.
A sustainable and stylish sneaker that provides an oasis of comfort with serious durability, the Juntos sneakers are available for pre-order nationwide for $95 at juntos.co. Sizes currently run up to 12 for women and 13 for men and come in slip-ons or lace-ups.
Juntos – from the Spanish for ‘together’ – originated in 2010 when founder Mauricio Laniado returned to his home in Ecuador. While volunteering at a non-profit school, Ninos con Futuro (Kids with a Future) in Guayaquil, he was stunned by the percentage of kids coming to class with few-to-no basic educational supplies and learned from the teachers it was a huge cause of disruption and distraction in the classroom.
Back in Miami – and still preoccupied with the challenges he had seen in Guayaquil – Laniado kept receiving compliments about his shoes, the very simple canvas street sneakers he always brought back from trips home. Worn by the working class, day in, and day out, El Zapato de Lona, is an iconic part of the landscape – part functional necessity, part social signifier.
And like that, the idea for Juntos was conceived.
Mauricio immediately recognized an opportunity to address the issues he’d seen in Guayaquil’s schools by harnessing the city’s own resources. The shoe-for-education-backpack principle was born: one item, from one area, for one area, an ethical fashion business based on the foundation of a commitment between students, families, educators and Juntos customers.
With every purchase made an education backpack filled with crucial school supplies is donated to a student in need through the company’s non-profit partner Style Saves. The backpacks are filled with a year’s supply of pens, pencils, notepads and other basic but crucial educational tools so often taken for granted, this resource allows a child to participate more fully and effectively in school.
“We reimagined the everyday shoe using sustainable materials like alpaca wool and banana trees, found in abundance in the Ecuadorian landscape. We also designed a more fair and responsible production process to get them out into the world. We even set up a business model where every purchase sends a backpack full of school supplies to an Ecuadorian student in need,” said Laniado. “The result is sustainable, stylish footwear that’s better for both people and the planet.”
Juntos upper, sock liner, and insole are crafted from single origin Huacaya Alpaca fleece, sourced from the Mazar Wildlife Reserve in the Ecuadorian highlands. Hypoallergenic and 20% finer than human hair, the alpaca wool is spun into ultra soft, light, moisture-wicking and temperature regulating hugs for your feet.
Of all ranch animals, alpacas are the easiest on the environment. Lacking hooves, each step of their feet cause no harm to the arid land they call home. They even graze tenderly, munching on the tops of grasses, so the roots hold soil in place while the grass grows anew.
100% of Juntos Alpaca wool comes from a single sustainable ranch high in the Ecuadorian Andes. Operated by Stuart and Patricia White, and with support from Juntos, the farm continues to expand its footprint of protected mountain land.
Juntos insoles are plant powered, and made from 100% non-toxic material. Crafted from coconut fiber, the insole padding molds seamlessly to the shape of your feet while providing maximum breathability and insulation. The insoles leverage existing waste residue from coconut harvesting to make each step a pleasure. And when the journey is over they biodegrade back into the earth where it all started.
The silky soft knit shoe lining is created from banana tree fibers harvested in the lowlands of central Ecuador. The antimicrobial, strong and absorbent properties make each step a pleasure. The parts of the banana Juntos uses are a doubly-renewable resource.
A banana plant shoots pseudo-stems out of its base. Each pseudo-stem grows a number of bananas, and then must be cut down to encourage new pseudo-stems. These fibers are normally burned, putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Banana fibers are not just renewable and biodegradable, but when they are put into the shoes, they directly fight climate change.
Juntos also has a sugarcane midsole. Naturally contouring, durable and springy, the sugarcane midsole features the world’s greenest EVA material. The bio-based EVA sole is among the few in the world derived from renewable materials. The use of sugarcane promotes CO2 absorption contributing directly to the reduction of greenhouse gasses.
Juntos is women and minority operated including a diverse black and Hispanic executive team. Elias Becker, Juntos Head of Design and Laniado are part of the renowned NYU Entrepreneurial Institute. The Institute leads University-wide initiatives to launch successful startups and commercialize technology created by NYU’s students, faculty and researchers.
