A few years ago we were asked if we could make some animal free dance shoes for a particular customer. Soon after, a shop in Los Angeles, California wanted us to collaborate on a range of vegan shoes for their market, such is the appetite for the environmentally friendly lifestyle in the region. We also have a couple of sponsored dancers who are vegans and of course we want to ensure that they are proud ambassadors of products that they believe in! If you follow us on social media, you'll likely have noticed we're pretty big animal fans with the dogs in our office and some of you may also recall our limited edition 'Shoedog' design of our 'Heather-Split' which featured the faces of our dogs; Roxy the Golden Retriever & Jenson the Cocker Spaniel!
Over the past couple of years we've been working hard to source sustainable, vegan alternatives to the materials that have traditionally been used in the production of footwear and now we're really pleased to offer footwear fit for the vegan dancer, making this growing community pretty happy!
Reducing the use of animals in our products and protecting the environment is pretty important to us and we've been really pleased to see dancers opting for vegan soles when ordering shoes online. We appreciate that historically, dance shoes have always had leather soles and many styles have leather uppers. When the material of a product is seen on our website as 'Black' rather than 'Black Calf', it means it is already made of a synthetic alternative.
Then the only other part of our shoes needing an alternative is our soles of which we have a vegan alternative to both our black and tan coloured soles, which we hope will be followed by white, red and perhaps even other colours in the future as we expand our range!
It's quite common to hear 'leather lined' as a big selling point for some dance shoe brands as many may associate leather linings with quality. We don't use leathers for lining. Instead we use a foam lining for all men's shoes, ladies practice shoes and ladies ballroom shoes, whilst a soft microfibre lining is used for ladies sandal shoes. We've always actually thought leather lining can be uncomfortable anyway when the feet sweat and rub, and our super-soft foam lining really helps shape the shoe around the foot like a glove too which is a big benefit to the dancer and it really enhances comfort!
Ordering Vegan Shoes
On each International Dance Shoes product you'll find a dropdown box for sole options and when clicking on this, you'll be able to select the vegan option. You'll also find the options for vegan soles with the eye-catching glitter too!
There is no extra charge when ordering shoes with vegan soles, but they are considered Bespoke. This means that they can't be returned so please be sure of your size, fit and heel preferences before ordering. Our team are always happy to help advise you on your size and for more information on sizing and the fittings we offer, click here.
At the moment, we don't keep vegan shoes in stock and as a result, we don't have anything for immediate delivery so please consider 5-15 working days for your specially crafted shoes to be made. We're sure they'll be well worth the wait.
Don't take a walk on the wild side, take a waltz on the ethical side!