London Fashion Week – Worn Again + The Big Issue Present The Bigger Shoe
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 09.20.06
Well we thought, Bonnie and I, that it might be tough to get accepted by the fashion crowd in London this week, but happily they welcomed us TreeHuggers with open arms! As Bonnie says in her post today we were very impressed by the Estethica section of the show which featured some TreeHugger favourites and some fantastic brands that we’d not heard of before. Watch out over the coming days to read more about them. One particular highlight was the Terra Plana stand where they were delighted to see us and we were delighted to see such beautiful and funky shoes on display. As always we loved the Worn Again collection and we were excited to see that they have teamed up with The Big Issue to celebrate the magazine’s 15th Anniversary. The Big Issue is a magazine that is sold on the streets around the UK by vendors who want to overcome the crises of homelessness. The limited edition shoe is of course called ‘The Bigger Shoe’ and in keeping with Worn Again’s recycling principles it is made from firemen’s uniforms, which by the way still smell of smoke!
As Worn Again say ‘these shoes have saved lives, seen some heat and would look ever so nice wrapped around your toes.’ We love the metallic insulation fabric that come from the inside of the firemen’s trousers and is used to line the shoes. It is amazing to think that with £6 of the retail price going directly to the Big Issue that these shoes, which have already saved lives in their previous life, will go on to hopefully save some more – now that is some powerful recycling going on there! There are only 400 pairs available from today in Terra Plana’s London stores – so you’d better be quick! ::Terra Plana, 124 Bermondsey Street, SE1 and Neal Street, Covent Garden ::Worn Again :: The Big Issue
I traveled to London this summer and picked up a pair of the used coffee bag shoes. The style is really cool and unique. Also, the coffee bags go along with my recent interest in coffee and espresso (fair trade, of course).
I had been meaning to check out Terra Plana while I was in London, and was very happily surprised to see the store as I was walking back to my hotel the first night.
Andrew
I bought a pair of worn again's at the terra plana store in NYC and I although I love the ideals and style of the sneakers, they are somewhat poorly made. The side vent rivets came out almost immediately and the overall craftsmanship is worse than average sweatshop sneakers.
Thank to all for your support in our brand.
Unfortunately you are not the first person to have problem with the ‘Worn-Again’ Coffee-bag shoes.
Subsequently this style has now been removed from our web-site & concept stores.
As we are constantly trying to be creative in our designs for using sustainable materials for our products we can sometimes get things wrong.
Our designers have highlighted the ‘Worn-Again’ shoes as a priority for the future of our brand.
We are currently working on new many new materials for new styles & colourways which is super exciting but of course these will be tested heavily for durability in light of the ‘coffee-bag’ error.
As a result of the manufacturing/design defect we offer a full refund (with receipt) or exchange.
If you have experienced any of the above problems please visit our store in Neal Street, Covent Garden or call us on: 0207 379 5959.
Thanks
Tony (Terra Plana Retail Manager)