AEHRENKRANZ minimal-shoes: eco, fair, european

What characterises an Aehrenkranz shoe?

• thin and pliable soles without heels
• outsoles are stitched on, not just glued
• plenty of space for your toes thanks to an anatomical fit
• comfortable wearing experience without footbed or restrictive stiffeners
• eco-friendly, sustainable natural materials (fair trade and organic certified if possible)
• breathable yet water-repellent
• non-toxic and skin-friendly: no plastics touch your skin!
• created under fair working and trading conditions

We start with a half boot called FREUDENTANZ (dance of joy) – a lightly padded, lightweight and flexible minimal-shoe for spring and autumn.

The sneaker REISELUST (love to travel) and the ballerina model SOMMERWIESE (summer meadow) are ready as a draft. Both shoes are in development and will be ready for spring 2019. Please note that the photomontages are not yet the final shoes and we reserve the right to make improvements.

All shoes will be available in EU sizes 36-47 (Sommerwiese up to 44) in the following colours and materials:

• charcoal vegan Piñatex® (black)
• paprika vegan Piñatex® (orange-red)
• ocean nappa ecopell® (turquoise)
• curcuma vintage ecopell® (lightbrown)
• stone vintage ecopell® (grey)

What are the shoes made of?

All materials your foot comes into direct contact with are eudermic, of natural origin and purchased in Europe:

• The vegan shoe is made of sustainable, PETA-approved Piñatex®: pineapple leaf fibres gathered by Philippine farming cooperatives, which would otherwise be burnt to pollute the air. They are processed in Spain into a water-repellent, pollution-free leather substitute.

• The leather shoe is made of German cowhide (only obtained from food production). It is vegetable tanned and dyed without any harmful substances. The ultra-soft, breathable ecopell® ecoleather is certified antiallergic and impresses with its longevity and haptics.

• The lining and insoles of our shoes are made from fair trade organic cotton and/ or vegetable tanned Portuguese cowhide.

• The laces are made of cotton. As soon as we reach certain order quantities, we will be able to buy organic cotton laces.

• To better resist abrasion, we use outer soles of recycled synthetic rubber. We consciously decided against natural caoutchouc because it requires the clearance of virgin forest and a pesticide-rich cultivation in monocultures. Organic rubber is still very rare and is not available to our sole manufacturer.

In the next few years we will bring out further minimal-shoes – also children shoes – that meet our above stated requirements.

Who is going to wear our shoes?

You!
Barefoot runners who sometimes have to wear shoes.
Mindful people who want to feel the ground they are walking on.
Also especially suitable for blind people and people striking on their balls first.
Vegans, vegetarians
Festival visitors, globetrotters and all conscious humans who question their consumer behaviour and care about our beautiful mother earth.

Our minimal-shoes combine responsibility for mankind and the environment with foot health and they even look beautiful.

We hold high environmental standards for our products. We are deeply committed to human rights and animal welfare. We buy and produce locally (Europe), pay attention to fair wages and have an account with an ethical bank.

To start the production we need at least 30.000€.
We spend it for:
• moulds for the outsole of sizes 36-47
• a sufficient number of lasts in sizes 36-47
• shoe samples for promotion, advertising and photo shootings of the first model
• production and transport costs of the orders made during the crowdfunding campaign

If we don't want to just work on demand – which would imply a production and delivery time of at least four months – we need an additional 35.000€ to stock up our webshop for the first time.

If we include the gradual introduction of children shoes in 2019, we will need further 25.000€ at least for outsole moulds, lasts, pattern development and initial production costs.

When we reach our first funding target, we will apply for a start-up loan from a bank to get the minimum amount of funding.

If we reach our second funding target, we can get a higher loan and can proceed as planned.

If we reach 90.000€, we are independent of a bank.

When will the shoes be delivered?

We plan to deliver all shoes in spring 2019.
However, since we are not always able to influence or anticipate the processes in the production facility – there may also be supply shortfalls – delays could occur.

Since we do not yet know our order volume and all material has to be procured for the first time, it is extremely difficult to state binding delivery times.

We will definitely keep you up to date!