There’s never been a better selection of vegan skate shoes. Whether you’re speeding down a hill on your new board, meeting friends for a game of disc golf, or just running around town, these minimalist shoes in animal-friendly canvas and other vegan materials are a must-have. Here are the top brands that make them.
1. Etnies
Famous as a skateboarding footwear brand, Etnies makes it super easy to find the vegan styles on their site because they’ve grouped them into their own collection. An eco-friendly brand, Etnies incorporates recycled materials into their shoes, including recycled rubber in the outsoles, recycled plastic canvas in the uppers, and more recycled materials in their cushioned insoles. You can see more Etnies in my post on recycled shoes.
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2. Emerica Canvas Skate Shoes
Like Etnies, Emerica gets a special shoutout for offering an entire line of skate shoes in vegan-friendly materials.
3. Vivobarefoot Vegan Skate Shoes
Vivobarefoot makes a solid selection vegan shoes that you can wear boarding, walking your pup, or doing anything else you enjoy. These chukka-style skate shoes are completely leather-free and made with eco-friendly 100% hemp canvas. Plus, they’re lined with recycled cotton and recycled PET plastic microfiber for durability and extra comfort.
Vivobarefoot also makes comfortable, lightweight hiking boots, which you can see in my post about vegan hiking boots and shoes.
To see more hemp shoes by other brands, check out my post on hemp shoes and sandals.
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4. Vans Canvas Skate Shoes
Vans may be the quintessential skate shoe brand. With tons of colors and patterns in their vegan-friendly canvas, you’ll be sure to find the perfect pair for your personal style.
Recently, Vans has also stepped up to become a more environmentally-conscious brand. Because their products account for 90% of their total environmental impact, especially those styles made with cotton, the company joined the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), which is a trade organization that works to reduce the environmental impact of cotton production and to improve livelihoods and economic development of people working in cotton producing places. Furthermore, Vans has committed to source 100% sustainable cotton by 2025.
Through their parent company, VF Corporation, Vans is also a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, which includes 100 leading apparel and footwear brands, retailers, suppliers, nonprofits, and NGOs that are collaborating to reduce the environmental and social impacts of the apparel and footwear industries.
You can see more Vans in my post about hemp shoes and sandals.
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5. Sanuk Skate Shoes
Another iconic brand that’s associated with skateboarding, as well as skateboarding’s wave-riding cousin – surfing, Sanuk creates tons of styles of awesome casual shoes. Because of their outdoor- and healthy-lifestyle philosophy, the company is also environmentally-conscious. Sanuk’s corporate headquarters and distribution centers are all housed in LEED certified buildings, where they utilize solar power for electricity generation and emploey water and energy efficiency processes.
You can see more Sanuks in my posts on eco-friendly flip flops and hemp shoes and sandals.
Women’s
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Men’s
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6. Native Vegan Skate Shoes
A 100% vegan footwear company, Native makes a variety of comfortable and casual athletic shoes. They also tries to maintain a light environmental footprint in their production process. The company uses a low-emissions manufacturing process, and their shoes are made with a foam-injection molding process, which helps to minimizes waste.
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7. TOMS Skate Shoes
It’s been great to see TOMS expand their line of vegan-friendly shoes over the past few years. A socially-conscious company, since 2006, TOMS has given nearly 100 million pairs of shoes to people in need. In addition, for every $3 the company makes, they donate $1 to worthy causes.
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8. People Footwear Skate Shoes
People Footwear offers a wide selection of colorful skate shoes and other styles for women, men, and kids.
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9. Blowfish
A vegan brand, Blowfish makes affordable skate-style and other shoes for women who love cool, casual style but don’t want to break the bank.
10. Unstitched Utilities
Another 100% vegan footwear brand, Unstitched Utilities uses vegan dyes and glues in their skateboarding and other style shoes. plus they incorporate eco-friendly materials into their designs.
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11. Saolo Skate Shoes
An eco-friendly brand, Saolo incorporated recycled materials and organic cotton into their all-vegan line of shoes. Every pair of Saolo skate shoes keeps 3-4 plastic bottles out of the landfill and ocean. And on the insoles of their shoes are cushioned with sustainable cork.
You can see more of their styles in my post about recycled shoes.
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12. Siam Tip Boho Chic Vegan Skate Shoes
Based in Thailand, Siam Tip makes a variety of skate-style and other shoes that are made with colorful ethnic-style prints. Their whole line is vegan. You can see more of their designs in my post about vegan clogs.
13. Superga Skate shoes
Superga’s origins began as a rubber company in Italy in the early 1900s. Two decades later, the company was making rubber soles for shoes. Fast forward to the 1970s and Superga was producing high-quality athletic shoes. Their shoes are a great combination of vintage-inspired and modern-day hip.
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14. Nike Fabric Skate Shoes
It’s awesome to see Nike offering a wider selection than ever before of non-leather skate and other styles shoes.
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15. adidas Skate Shoes
I was happy to see that adidas has committed to using only recycled plastics in their shoes and sportwear by 2024. In addition, they plan to sell 11 million pairs of their Parley recycled ocean plastic shoes this year. As the world’s largest sportswear maker, adidas has a big impact on the world of retail, animals, and the environment, so it’s great to see them moving more into the compassionate and eco-friendly realm.
adidas still uses a lot of leather and suede in their designs, so, as you sift through the skate shoe styles, be sure to read the product details so you make sure you’re getting the styles made with canvas and synthetics. adidas also make some great vegan hiking boots and trail running shoes, which I feature on UniGuide.
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adidas Men’s Canvas Skate Shoes
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