Women’s Wear Daily is considered by some as the “bible of fashion.” And while I don’t actually feel God/Jehovah/Krishna/Muhammed/Madonna (yes, I mean Ciccone) has spoken here, we are still quite thrilled to see Greenloop and owner Aysia Wright be lauded by this industry tome as the “Zappos of sustainable brands.”

Being awarded the Best Online Shop by Treehugger’s Best In Green Awards and getting recognized by WWD all at once has made for quite a (I’m gonna stick with the religious angle here) blessing. Check out the article by Jennifer Ernst Beaudry here…

Aysia Wright was a lawyer and environmental activist in the spring of 2004, when she decided that fashion retail would be her next challenge. “I wanted to get out of practicing law, and I felt that fashion is so pervasive it can serve as a catalyst, and it was a really good platform for an environmental message,” she said. In September of that year, Wright founded her 900-sq.-ft. Portland, Ore., eco-boutique, Greenloop, and launched a Website soon after. Both carry a mix of clothing and footwear. In the beginning, it wasn’t easy to grow her niche — with green retail not as recognizable or widespread as it is today, and with fewer brands to choose from. But working in a field she’s so passionate about has its upside. “It was a huge challenge,” Wright said, “but it’s fun. And within the design community, [green brands] are a nice group of people to work for and advocate for.”

THE RIGHT MIX
To be considered for Greenloop, Wright said, brands have to fill out a detailed questionnaire about where they manufacture, what textiles they use, where they source and more. Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis — but no matter how good the green pedigree is, she said, the shoes have to be durable and trend-right. If not, Wright explained, “[the shoes] are inherently unsustainable because no one will wear them and they won’t last.” Greenloop stocks shoes from Beyond Skin, Melissa Shoes, Toms, Simple, Terra Plana, Autonomie Project and Charmoné. Prices range from $30 to $350, and shoes, available for men and women, account for 15 percent to 20 percent of the store’s business, which registers slightly less than $1 million a year. Variety, Wright said, is key: “There’s a little something for everyone.”

TOMS Shoes introduced the world to the One-For-One business model back in early 2006. For every pair of shoes they sold, one pair would be given to a child in need. Some called it simply genius, others called it fiscal suicide. Over the past three years, TOMS has given over 100,000 pairs of shoes to kids in Argentina, South Africa, and Mississippi. Not only have TOMS canvas slip-ons become quite trendy, but it seems the One-For-One methodology has caught on as well.

Element Skateboards has just launched a collaboration with TOMS. For every TOMS co-branded skateboard they sell, one board will be given to a kid at the Indigo Skate Camp near Durban, South Africa. Skateboarding gives the kids at Indigo a positive activity to revolve around; much needed for those living in the midst of one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

A few weeks ago in Venice, CA, there was a quaint little party at the TOMS “pop-up” store on Abbot Kinney Blvd. Hipsters, skaters, locals, and staff drank beer, talked skating, browsed shoes, and rocked out to one of LA’s finest deejays, Mr. Alfred Hawkins. Blake Mycoskie, Founder of TOMS, and President of Element, Johnny Schillereff, got up to speak about how the partnership came to be, while the half drunken crowd of do-gooders whistled and catcalled their favorite heros of conscious commerce.

Ethiopia…land of the original coffee bean, breathtaking waterfalls, and the history-making, inspired leadership of Emperor Haile Selassie I. Ethiopian people are some of the most beautiful in the world, as well as some of the poorest. Too many people in this country suffer and die from diseases that are completely preventable, like podoconiosis.

TOMS Shoes has an aggressively philanthropic business model, giving one pair of shoes to a child in need for every single pair they sell. Their hugely successful line of canvas slip-ons and newly released “wrap boots” sell to major national retailers like Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters, American Rag, and Greenloop. Up until just last week, Founder Blake Mycoskie and team have flown to exotic locales like Argentina, South Africa, and Ethiopia to personally fit kids with brand new pairs of TOMS, distributing more than 85,000 pairs around the world.

Doing shoe drops abroad seemed to make the most sense to Blake, considering most kids in the US have access to shoes. He recently realized though that some American children, like victims of natural disasters, were stuck with ill-fitting hand-me-downs or had to share shoes with siblings. So Blake decided to finally bring his “shoe drops” home to the US by organizing a handful of TOMS signature DIY shoe parties, dubbed Style Your Sole, at four different school districts in Mississippi still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Each child received a brand new pair of white canvas TOMS to paint in their own unique way. Needless to say, they were very excited! Another brilliant idea from TOMS.

Created with a singular mission: To make life more comfortable. TOMS accomplishes this through it’s ultra lightweight design and the company’s commitment to match every pair purchased with a donated pair to a child in need.

* Easy, comfortable slip-on shoe
* Canvas Upper
* Soft leather insole
* Durable, textured EVA sole for improved traction
* Order true to size
* For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need

TOMS Navy Canvas Shoes – $42.00