Lakat Sustainable Sneakers

What makes us smile? Acts of kindness, heartwarming stories, lost loves found, music and food and the sweet memories that they bring forth, old photographs, family gatherings, heroes in our midst, remembrances of pets and experiences, etc. etc. Each of us have our own smile triggers. What's yours?

Send us a story that makes you smile, be it a vignette or an anecdote, a picture with an extended caption, even a screenshot.

Lakat Sneakers (Source: ABS-CBN/ANCX)

A 100 percent-Filipino comfort shoe brand, made from natural pineapple and cotton fabrics using sustainable practices, and coming in such attractive colors as DaytimeYellow, Ether Gray, Cosmos Blue, Verdigris Green and Sundial Caramel -- what's not to like?

 Lakat (meaning "walk" in Bisaya) Sustainable Sneakers made and marketed by Creative Definitions are the current rage among Filipino fashionistas, according to an ABS-CBN/AncX report. (https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/style/necessary-style/06/21/22/pinoy-sneakers-proudly-made-with-sustainable-practices?fbclid=IwAR2zgTPhwS3PtI2-8j8UqMY9Jg57clg-tSVIXed9Io5LZXC1q1qS_T22zdE)

The sneakers, a brainchild of ecology entrepreneurs Banj and Michael Claparols, are hand-loomed by weavers from Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, supplemented by rubber from Mindanao, and assembled by artisans from San Mateo, Rizal. 

Banj and Michael Claparols (Source: ABS-CBN/ANCX)

Each step of the process employs the core values of sustainability as mandated by the UN Sustainability goals. The stripping of threads from pineapple plants are done using solar-powered decorticating machines. The weavers and assemblers are assured of fair wages. The Claparols couple's sustainable value chain and business model aim to create more businesses that will benefit Filipino artisans and workers.  

According to the company's website https://www.creativedefinitions.com/collections/lakat-sneakers, Lakat Sustainable Sneakers cost from 3,960-4,220 pesos a pair. That’s about $68 - $72 at current rate.