What is our vision?

The DNA of an ethical and sustainable fashion brand, how does that concern you?

Attention friends this is an article of the utmost importance.

To tell you about our vision is to open our little heart to you. We have convictions, a way of understanding social and environmental issues that is unique to us (as you probably have yours) as young French people facing the challenges of our current world.

The creation of MEEKO was largely motivated by this vision which will be our common thread so as not to lose sight of our primary objectives (when we are at the top). We don't want to make one more brand of lambda sneakers.

However, if we take a quick look at our sneakers, it's hard to see a real visual break in them (it's obviously voluntary, our motivations for design and raw materials are detailed in future articles). The difference comes from everything that surrounds our brand, everything that shapes it. Our vision is our DNA. This is why we believe that reading this article is essential to understand our project as a whole, who we are addressing and how all business decisions are/will be made.

Can making and selling sneakers really be something sustainable?

One of our main challenges with MEEKO is to show that business and ecology are not inseparable and can, on the contrary, be mutually beneficial.

Reconciling the two is a real challenge. You have to be extremely demanding, dig into all the subjects, never be satisfied with what already exists. Certain essential compromises must be accepted in order to guarantee a certain profitability of the activity, which will benefit MEEKO's overall mission. All of this while being completely transparent with our target audience who are able to understand that we live in an imperfect world where every step towards sustainability counts. We think it's important to say this because in a dramatic situation, many offer radical solutions. These same people who will tell us that "wanting to have a positive impact on the planet by selling sneakers is bullshit, the best thing is not to produce them".

Yes, when creating a brand of sneakers, we often wondered if it was not "fake". By "fake" we mean wouldn't our impact on the planet be better if we went to live at the end of the world and work in the field with an NGO? This is a question that is very interesting to ask when our main motivation is to act in the long term in favor of the planet, regardless of our profession. We love to trek in the jungle, observe wild animals and we would sacrifice a lot to ensure the survival of the species that have made us dream since we were children.

On the other hand we will never live in the jungle, we are not rangers, nor scientists, nor guides. We live in the city, we will probably live our whole lives in the city or near a city. This is where we come to flourish and find the energy to create something positive for the planet. Our way of understanding the current issues is not radicalism and we believe that there are other solutions than going into exile in the countryside, living in energy autonomy, growing vegetables, producing milk, etc. If some people manage to do it and are happy that way, it's great, they're needed (and they impress us). This way of life is still not suitable for everyone, you have to find your balance.

We think that our environmental impact will be better by living in the city, fulfilled, by adopting an increasingly responsible way of life (we are starting to have a small idea of ​​what that means) and by growing a project like MEEKO. Furthermore, we also think that if we don't do it for fear of not doing enough good for the planet (or even doing it badly), we give up and leave the field open to all the giants of the market (who, for the vast majority do not put the environment at the heart of their decisions). ,

We often talked about it with my partner who is an architect and who wonders a lot about the impact of the building on the planet and about her own role in it. The market is controlled by large real estate groups whose primary concerns are far from being related to the environment or the well-being of users. But architecture, just like clothes, sneakers, food, cosmetics, etc. are all industries that will have to evolve, if only to meet new consumer demands for sustainable consumption. The question is then to know if we decide to let the existing brands go green by reaction and not by real conviction, with the risk that it is only wind. Here we think that these boxes have had their chance, that they have long been warned about the impact of their activity on the planet and that it is now time for new local actors with good motivations to join the game.

That's why we decided to jump in and join the short list of brands that we'll be happy to have as "competitors" because deep down we're fighting for the same thing (we'll tell you about these brands in a future article). And there is room for all of us. It's not necessarily the easy solution as you can imagine, there are a lot of uncertainties in this project (will we be able to live on it? Will we really be able to help the NGOs with whom we partnered? etc.). We are nevertheless convinced that we are at a turning point, that mentalities are changing very quickly and that what we offer has value for our community.

In conclusion, city rat and country rat, same fight

This is MEEKO's vision. The one that we can have a brand of sneakers aware of its weaknesses as well as its strengths and positively impact the planet. The one you can live in town, having never set foot in the Amazon but feeling very concerned about your situation. The one that you can move to get out of your comfort zone and move towards a more sustainable way of life without being perfect. The one that even thousands of kilometers away, with the desire, we can help nature by helping those who are on the ground thanks to skills that they do not necessarily have.

Most small NGOs struggle to find funding because they don't know much about marketing, communication, content, for example. We do. On the other hand, they know how to disengage a monkey trap. We don't. What if we worked together?

To learn more about our commitment to these NGOs and how you can participate, we invite you to read the next article about our missions .

Thank you for reading us and if you find yourself in this speech do not hesitate to share them around you. 😊

You can also follow us on our various social networks here , here and here .

See you soon ,

The MEEKO team