My Discovery of Urbànima: Fashion with a Conscience
Recently, I stumbled upon the fabulous Spanish shoe brand, Urbànima. This isn’t just another name in fashion or another place to buy gorgeous shoes in Spain. It’s a brand that’s driving change. Urbànima is working towards creating a world where fashion can be kind and sustainable not cruel and destructive.
What I really love is their wholehearted commitment to fashion that’s kind and conscious. Not just in the materials they use, but in every aspect of their creation and delivery process.
Let me introduce Urbànima
Urbànima is a slow-fashion brand based in the stunning city of Valencia, on the eastern coast of Spain. The name, broken down means ‘urban’ and ‘soul’. And this is represented in the way they create designs perfect for city life, while still staying true to their sustainable ethos.
Maite Navarrete Causanille, CEO and founder of Urbànima believes that normalising sustainable consumption is the way forward and will help create a sustainable fashion industry and a healthy planet for us all to enjoy.
This Valencian brand crafts 100% vegan, high-quality women’s footwear that focuses on using sustainable, recycled, and cruelty-free materials.
A Deep Dive into Urbànima’s Ethical and Eco-Friendly Ways
Vegan Materials: A Kinder Choice
I spend a lot of time in the world of vegan fashion and products. So sometimes I forget this, but Urbànima’s choice to use 100% vegan materials is not the easy option from a business point of view. It’s a bold stance in a fashion industry still largely dependent on animal products.
It’s the right choice though. And I’m very grateful to conscious businesses like Urbànima for taking the less-travelled path in the hope of something better.
Innovative Materials and Eco-Friendly Production
Another aspect that stands out to me is that Urbànima not only excludes animal products but the materials they use are selected with the environment at the forefront of their mind.
Their products are designed using natural and recycled materials such as corn, rice waste, cacti and recycled PET. Using these materials not only reduces harm to the planet but actually has a positive impact by reducing waste.
They use rice waste for shoe soles and corn-derived bio-polyols for leather-like fabrics. Even cactus leaves find a place in their eco-friendly assortment of materials. It’s creativity with a conscience. Exactly what I love to see from a fashion brand!
There are so many angles to look at when it comes to eco-friendly production. This includes logistics too, Urbànima uses suppliers located close to their production centres and works with eco-efficient logistics, allowing them to minimise their CO2 emissions.
Challenging Fast Fashion
In a world where fast fashion still sadly dominates, every brand that joins the fight against it is a win in my opinion. Urbànima’s philosophy of slow and responsible fashion is something I’m all about.
Yes, they make gorgeous, stylish footwear but they aren’t encouraging their customers to buy for the sake of it. They’re not about sales and promos either. Urbànima focuses on selling quality, timeless shoes that are made to last.
Urbànima has a wonderful collection of designs and styles while still maintaining a balance. They have enough options for their customers to find their perfect style, without trying to tick every box and create collections that are too expansive leading to unsold products ending up in landfill.
Sustainable Packaging too
Their sustainable approach extends to their packaging too. They use eco-friendly materials such as recycled cardboard shoe boxes with a self-assembly format with folds and grooves that mean adhesives aren’t needed. As well as water-based ink made with organic pigments and recycled paper within the boxes to keep their fabulous shoes in shape.
And the Research and Development doesn’t stop there
Urbànima’s focus on research and development doesn’t seem to be slowing. It plays such an important part in evolving their products and the eco-friendly fashion industry as a whole.
Their work in sustainable materials and cruelty-free fabrics is hopefully paving the way for a kinder footwear industry overall.
Conclusion: Urbànima – More Than Just a Footwear Brand
Urbànima is a brand fighting for eco-friendly and ethical fashion, they are challenging the norms, and setting an example.
It’s a brand for those of us who want to make a statement with our fashion choices by wearing vegan and eco-friendly items and supporting brands that make them. Check out Urbànima’s collection for yourself here.
Remember, every purchase we make is a step either towards or away from the kind of world we want to live in.
Meet the Author
Meet Sinead O’Carroll: Vegan explorer, sustainability advocate and the founder of The Wondering Wandering Vegan. Embracing veganism since 2018 and vegetarianism since 2005, Sinead is armed with a Vegan Health, Nutrition and Lifestyle qualification, and is on a mission to share her passion for cruelty-free living.
With a taste for adventure and a heart for eco-conscious choices, she’s here to prove that vegans never miss out on flavour, fun or style. Join her in enjoying the delights of a vegan-friendly world! 🌱✈️🌍
Want to know more? Check out Sinead’s About page here.
Follow me on Instagram to see all the delicious vegan food I find, the vegan and cruelty-free products I use and what I get up to as a travelling vegan.