Table of Contents
Gifted item.
I don’t know about you guys, but my kids will be seemingly part of a generation that will flat refuse to wear uncomfortable, too formal shoes. Rightly so, if you ask me. Time to ditch uncomfortable and impractical shoes and clothing, it’s 2024! I’m pretty sure my daughter will not be required to wear high heels when she grows up to meet social norms or as part of her job – and her generation will be the same. And I do hope, it will mean that they will be also more conscious about how their clothes and shoes are made.
I try my best to raise them to know the consequences of our purchase decisions. We always discuss we buy second hand, small brands with ethical and eco credentials or vegan and cruelty free. I think most of the children growing up into this hopefully more sustainable and more ethical future. But that begins with us, parents.
Back to the topic of comfortable and sustainably shoes. I’d like to introduce a new indy brand: Dubs.
About Dubs Shoes
Dubs shoes mission is to create not only sustainable but comfortable, ergonomically well fitting children’s trainers (so not a shrunken version of old fashioned adult shoes), with wide enough space for the little toes. Shoes that also look cool, easy to put on and clean, and they last. They produce small batches, so as to avoid excess stock and need for storage (storage has its own carbon footprint). An in-house R&D team constantly working on new deconstruction methods so that refurbishment and re-selling becomes easier, more cost effective and environmentally friendly. They ship the shoes on cardboard tubes and in 100% post-consumer mailing bags.
All in all – and this is backed by the London South Bank University – Dubs have a lower COâ‚‚ footprint and manufacturing them cost less energy than high street branded trainers.
Dubs partnered with Sal’s Shoes, a charity working on reducing shoes poverty and providing shoes for children in need, because they don’t want children missing out on anything just because they don’t have suitable shoes. So outgrown Dubs can be sent to Sal’s Shoes. And this means they will be saved from being binned and will be kept in use longer.
Dubs currently have two models in different colours: The Loop Lite (RRP £45.-) and Dubs Glide (RRP: £50.-)
What we thought about them
Saying WE – as they were tested by my daughter. We picked The Loop Lite in marshmallow colour.
The shoes look fab for the first sight – obviously very well made, excellent standards. Very light, very flexible and pretty colour. They currently come in grey, navy, black – handy colour for sure – and marshmallow, a sort of soft peach colour. They are designed to be usinex – I love this feature. (I would like to see more colours in the collection though, like green and yellow for example!)
They are easy to pull on (it’s got a little loop tag by the heel to help). The soft material and the lack of laces make these shoes feel comfortable on the bolt. Which is very nice, because those bones are not padded much to brace against uncomfortable rubbing.
My daughter’s main remark was that her toes feel great in these shoes. Like I mentioned above, the wider than the standard, traditional trainer’s toebox are a great feature of these shoes.
The upper part is made from recycled plastic bottles. The insole is made with recycled foam. So far so good….. The sole is made from SUGARCANE. Yep. A lot of brands recycle plastic bottles these days, which is great but the plastic sole is still standards. However, in case of Dubs, the sole is made from sugarcane, which is a natural composition, therefore very much environmentally friendly.
They are machine washable – which is an obvious plus, given that they are children shoes. My daughter soiled them on the first day, but I washed them after a few wears and they wash well.
Verdict
Absolute YES!
I love everything about these shoes. Most brands do their best to greenwash their products and get us into the thinking that they do things the right way… like plating trees after every sale.
But Dubs truly does the right think – and not just saying, but backed up by in-house designers and developers. Dubs is a brand I fully support because they do the hard work and create something edge-cutting in their category. Way to go!
