Far from disposable society: You can fix these sneakers yourself

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Wearing sneakers for years because they can be repaired at home in seconds; This is the idea of ​​Vyn, a shoe start-up from Basel. “I’m tired of designing shoes that will wear out after a few months or end up in the trash heap before being worn,” says co-founder Catherine Meuter (40). “The shoe industry has a huge environmental problem.”

The sneaker designer knows what he’s talking about. Meuter has worked with famous brands such as Giorgio Armani and Harrys of London for more than a decade. 24 billion pairs of shoes are produced each year worldwide, and more than 90 percent of them are quickly thrown into landfills.

Catherine Meuter couldn’t give up on the idea of ​​a long-lasting sneaker. He thought of and worked with new ways of making shoes with his university friend and co-founder Stefan Mathys (45). The duo found a family business in northern Italy that could produce shoes. In 2018, Mathys launched the first Vyn sneakers and the company was founded in 2020.

As easy as changing batteries

Co-founder Stefan Mathys has been wearing VYN sneakers almost every day for five years. Every ten months, she changes the heel of her shoe in two steps. In addition to the heel, you can also replace the heel cap and inner bearing of the shoe. It’s as easy as changing the batteries.

Sneakers are the first shoes in the world that you can repair at home. This means it can be worn three times longer than regular shoes. “Normal sneakers cannot be repaired even by a shoemaker,” says Meuter. Other sneakers have too many components glued together.

When Catherine Meuter talks about shoes in her Basel room, you can tell she has a special relationship with them. It’s like he’s talking about a living thing: how to carefully apply and brush the cream. How beautiful they become with age, thanks to their patina. The shoe designer gets up from the couch and pushes two wooden shoe trees with gold buttons into two sneakers: “It’s like a makeover. The leather regenerates itself and the shoes stay in good condition.”

Not vegan (yet).

Vyn’s sneakers are made of calfskin. For people who equate sustainability with animal welfare, sneakers are out of the shoe closet. Why aren’t Vyn shoes vegan? Catherine Meuter explains: “I’m open to an alternative to leather, as long as it’s durable, easy to care for and adapts to the foot.” However, as of today, this is not yet the case.

For Vyn sneakers, customers have to open their wallets a little: the cheapest pair costs 420 Swiss francs; spare parts in addition to this. But the investment is worth it. Meuter: “The price is definitely worth it, considering that the shoe has a longer lifespan due to its high quality and repairability.”

We are looking for long-term minded customers

Whether Vyn’s concept works for sustainability does not depend on whether customers’ bank accounts are full. If they don’t want to maintain and repair shoes at all, the mountain of sneaker waste just keeps growing. “There needs to be a return to quality and to customers who want to move away from the disposable society,” says Meuter.

In the future, Vyn plans to place even greater emphasis on waste prevention and therefore the circular economy. A program is planned in the coming years that will allow customers to return their shoes and recycle the components, thus creating as little waste as possible.

Source : Blick