Manila’s creatives have been posting photos of themselves wearing these very basic-looking pairs of sneakers of late. One has to wonder, What’s so great about these shoes?
There’s the dandy couple Ricky Toledo and Chito Vijandre pairing theirs with their usual getup of exuberant prints. There’s designer and Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines President JC Buendia sporting a white pair with brown chinos. There’s musician Jay Ortega supremely cool in blue jeans and a pair of sneakers in pink—a very popular shade for obvious reasons during the lead up to the May elections.
But don’t be fooled by the footwear’s simplicity—these are statement shoes whose message goes beyond fashionability. Why else would restaurateur Elbert Cuenca, model-entrepreneur Tweetie de Leon, and podcaster Myrza Sison be happily wearing them on social media? First of all, they’re called Lakat Sustainable Sneakers, which already gives away the answers: 1) they’re proudly Filipino, and 2) they’re made following sustainable practices.
“The Lakat Sneakers may be considered sustainable due to many factors but we can start by saying that we adopted certain practices (core values) of sustainability as mandated by the UN Sustainability goals,” says Banj Claparols, one of the brand’s founders.
“Our first core value is that we respect the social and cultural influences of the partner communities that we are working with,” offers Claparols, a graduate of BS in Electronics and Communications Engineering and a veteran in the export industry. “The weavers who make the fabrics for the [shoe] uppers live in the remote areas in the mountains of Kabankalan and basically live a simple rural life. Our partnership takes into consideration that they live a farm life and we work strongly that they should not be uprooted from their community. In addition, we also have to take care of the community of the gifted shoe assemblers from San Mateo, Rizal.”
This progressive-thinking entrepreneur says Lakat shoes are made from natural materials—mostly natural fibers from cotton and pineapple from Negros, supplemented by rubber from Mindanao which are used for the outsoles.
Together with her husband Michael Claparols, whose background is in strategic planning, marketing and supply chain management, Banj makes sure the business venture practices fair trade. “We make sure that the artisans (weavers and other workers) are paid adequately,” she says. “We are working towards the goal of them earning not only a minimum wage, but a ‘living wage.’”
“Lakat” actually means “walk” in Bisaya, and it just so happens the brand is one that walks the talk. Apart from looking after the welfare of workers, it has adopted production methods from the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) that turn natural fibers into sustainable textiles. The brand also makes use of solar-powered decorticating machines (which strip tree barks and plant skins with unusable material, making them ready for another step in the production process) for lesser carbon footprint.
The story of these sneakers actually began in 2017 when the Claparols couple kickstarted their colllaboration with Negros’ weaving communities as part of their plan to create a greater impact in the Philippine countryside. That same year, Mike and Banj, through a trade show in Hong Kong, were introduced to the opportunities in the sustainable market and the PTRI, which eventually led to a collaboration and the adoption of textile technologies to convert raw pineapple and cotton fibers into wearable yarns and textiles.
Lakat is actually a baby of the couple’s company Creative Definitions whose goal is to supply the world with pineapple and cotton fabrics from the Philippines as well as establish a sustainable value chain and business model with the hope of creating more value-added businesses and products to benefit Filipinos.
The homegrown sneaker brand recently introduced its Spring/Summer 2022 collection inspired by city summers. The color range goes from an intense shade of yellow (Daytime) to a cool slate of gray (Ether) to a deep navy (Cosmos). All shades are available in both low cut and high top styles.
While it does look deceivingly simple in design, there’s clearly a lot of thought—positive and progressive—that went into creating the Lakat sneaker. What has been the best feedback the shoe has gotten so far? “It's super duper comfortable,” says Banj, echoing a happy customer’s rave, “and [am] proud to own a 100% Filipino-made sustainable sneakers that can compete globally!!!!”
[For information on where to find Lakat sneakers, visit Lakat Sustainables on Instagram.]