When I look for a new pair of sneakers or trainers I am always conscious of two things, manufacturing ethics and style and quality.
Companies like Nike (and there are many others like them) even though the have great sports personalities like Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz for tennis, Michael Jordan and Le Bron James for Basketball, Music and Lifestyle Billie Eilish and Kendrick Lamar, and Soccer stars Christian Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe (the 27 year legend partnership with Golf’s Tiger Woods did end in 2024) they continue to hit the headlines for bad business behaviour.
They are reported as selling over 800 million shoes every year (26 pairs a second globally) which is perhaps why the ethical and sustainable spotlight always hits brands like Nike.
It’s been a long time since the Nike Sweatshop Scandal reported in the global media back in the 1990s. They’ve had a lot of time to put things right and yet factory workers in Cambodia producing for Nike as recently as April last year reported working 76 hours per week (propublica.org) forced to work 7 days a week and after 12 years on the job still earning a base salary of $204 a month, less than a dollar and hour.
For Nike lovers and wearers around the world and the celebrities and sporting heroes who help the brand promote the recent article is a very sobering read about slave wages, forced overtime and arbitrary abuse.
Instead in the past I have purchased from more socially conscious brands like Veja, All Birds and Patagonia as these guys all publish full supply chain transparency, are certified B Corp and or Fair Trade and explicitly commit to living wages.
I like to wear a sneaker that is perhaps a little off the beaten track and not instantly recognisable or perhaps more over looked. As a designer I like to be a leader when it comes to my fashion choices rather than a follower. On the look out for something I’d never heard of I discovered I like the style of Alexander Smith, an Italian (actually begun in London) footwear brand that emerged in the mid 2010. It’s a premium lifestyle sneaker label rather than a performance sports brand like Nike.
They’ve are made in Italy they say but the likely hood is they do use unpublished outsourced manufacturing. The problem with shopping a much smaller boutique brand like Alexander Smith there is no strong documentation on where every shoe is made and under what labour conditions.
The ethics question for consumers is tricky when for a brand like Nike for example the public scrutiny is very high and for a smaller under the radar brand like Alexander Smith it’s very low. For Nike proven issues are well documented for Alexander Smith they are unknown.
My logic is I would always prefer to buy something more obscure. The reasoning smaller companies are less likely to exploit than big ones and if they do it’s on a much smaller scale. The larger a brand gets the more they are forced to be transparent. So the honest bottom line is Alexander Smith does not have strong ethical practises published and when comparing and considering purchasing it is certain it’s more unknown than better.
The things I have loved about my Alexander Smith shoes;
Lovely quality, really well made and have lasted well. Like Golden Goose they are mainly made of leather so easy to brush up and I do love the minimalist chunky designs and the neutral colour palettes making them very easy to style.
If you want to buy a pair they are sold in many boutique fashion retailers, department stores and online luxury fashion platforms. I actually found mine from an Italian store on EBay Grandi Nino Calzature.com for a steal but you can also shop directly on the Alexander Smith website.
The shipping was included and they arrived packed beautifully so would definitely recommend this shoe store in Italy to shop with. The service was fantastic.
The prices range for a basic flat top shoe from £120.00 up to £260 for premium and new styles like the Alexander Smith Eclipse Low Trainers.
I cannot guarantee you are shopping ethically with Alexander Smith. I did my research before purchasing and could find very little about them published online good or bad.
They do state their shoes are “Made in Italy” where rules are much stricter than Asia regarding exploitation and some lines are marked as “eco lines” so fingers crossed the brand does genuinely care about delivering on this side of their business to consumers.
If you are shopping Alexander Smith I’d recommend you size down. I bought my first pair in my size and they had to be returned for a smaller pair.
I’d welcome anyone from the brand or with more information about Alexander Smith’s ethical footprint to comment here. Love the shoes, would purchase again just would like to know more about the brand values and wider mission.