Now you can recycle truck tyres to build yourself a shoe
CHENNAI: If you’re looking for sustainability in footwear, here’s the trend you need to catch up with. Footwear made from truck tyres and aeroplane tyres is the game changer in today’s haute couture. What started as a small platform to help better the lives of cobblers, ended up taking the social media by storm!
Paaduks, as the name goes, is a Mumbai-based company making soles out of tyres. Speaking to Jey Rege from the team at Paaduks, he shares the stories of what inspired them to come up with such an initiative which began its journey in 2013.
“While working on this initiative, we realised that the cobblers and their families are plagued with many problems.” he says. “It was then that we decided to turn this venture into an initiative that not only makes eco-friendly footwear but also creates a positive social impact by providing sustainable livelihood opportunities to cobblers.”
It was quite challenging for them to make cobblers work on scrap tyres. “Tyres are difficult to cut, when compared to other commercially available soles, many cobblers we spoke to were reluctant to work with us.
“Once the team got a few cobblers to work with them, they were faced with producing good designs. They were helped by full time designer (Carol D Souza) who curated the designs. He states that sales are always challenge to them. To get the right things to the customers, they want to produce the right designs, comfort levels of shoes with proper pricing.
Paaduks market regularly in The Little Flea held in Mumbai and also market on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. “Social media has helped us reach out to a pan-India audience pretty fast, especially the eco socio-conscious audience, who value ‘ethical’ products,” says Jay.
The team initially began experimenting with truck tyres but soon after they explored the possibilities of making footwear from the soles of airline tyres. “We mostly use side walls of the tyres as soles.
These side walls are chiselled out to make them flat and then cut using a metal die (and a clicker machine) in the shape of a sole,” he says.
“We use airline tyres as well. We actually found some at the scrap dealer from whom we source tyres and decided to give them a try. But these days those are a little difficult to get.”
The Paaduks footwear(s) are not potentially inspired from anything. They are modelled to go handy with Indian ethnic wear. They also look good with a pair of jeans, if you try. They are presently working with three cobbers in Mumbai. The Paaduks don’t have an outlet par se but have selected retail shops in different cities selling their footwear.
Although they could not entirely elevate the living conditions of the cobblers, they are working to provide them clean environment and a stable, fair income. The crowd that visits Paaduks’ stalls is always in awe. “,” adds Jay.