Kumi Sneakers

For Alex­an­dra and Ser­gio, the crea­tors of KUMI, the rela­ti­onship with their sup­pli­ers is more than a simp­le exch­an­ge. They are their col­la­bo­ra­tors and con­sider it essen­ti­al to have a clo­se rela­ti­onship based on trans­pa­ren­cy, per­so­nal cont­act and trust, becau­se wit­hout them they would not be able to rea­li­se their projects. 

That is why their snea­k­ers manu­fac­tu­rer is local, based in Elche (Spain), so they can ensu­re a clo­se rela­ti­onship and ade­qua­te working conditions.

On the other hand, for their clot­hing coll­ec­tion they also work with a local work­shop in Mal­lor­ca, whe­re they do the prin­ting and embro­idery of their sweat­shirts and bags. The­se garm­ents have the Fair Wear cer­ti­fi­ca­te, which gua­ran­tees that the garm­ents have been made in a fac­to­ry that com­pli­es with human and labour rights. 

At KUMI they work hard to find mate­ri­als with high qua­li­ty stan­dards and low envi­ron­men­tal impact in order to crea­te a dura­ble and sus­tainable product.

They use orga­nic and recy­cled mate­ri­als, the top parts of their trai­ners are made from recy­cled poly­es­ter from pla­s­tic bot­t­les and bio­po­ly­mers, obtai­ned from non-food and GMO-free corn crops.

On the other hand, its clot­hing coll­ec­tion is made from orga­nic or recy­cled cot­ton and recy­cled poly­es­ter.

Thanks to a life cycle ana­ly­sis, they know that the manu­fac­tu­re of the­se mate­ri­als pro­du­ces a lower envi­ron­men­tal impact com­pared to stan­dard pro­ces­ses and fights cli­ma­te chan­ge, the impact of glo­bal warm­ing and the deple­ti­on of natu­ral resources.

KUMI manu­fac­tures sus­tainable shoes and clot­hing from sus­tainable mate­ri­als. But most of its pro­ducts are made from a mix of dif­fe­rent mate­ri­als, such as orga­nic mate­ri­als (orga­nic cot­ton or corn) with recy­cled pla­s­tics, making it dif­fi­cult to recy­cle the pro­ducts after use.

Howe­ver, KUMI con­scious­ly designs to achie­ve zero was­te in the manu­fac­tu­re of its pro­ducts and makes efforts to rai­se awa­re­ness among its cus­to­mers to extend the life span of the products. 

KUMI is a brand that sup­ports the local economy! 

At KUMI they want to help their envi­ron­ment in a local and direct way. The­r­e­fo­re, for their clot­hing coll­ec­tion, they work with a local work­shop in Mal­lor­ca, whe­re the foun­ders of KUMI live, and for their trai­ners, they work with a work­shop of the tra­di­tio­nal shoe indus­try in the area of Elche (Spain).

KUMI is a vegan brand! All its mate­ri­als are free of ani­mal pro­ducts.

One of the pil­lars of the brand is to help achie­ve a socie­ty whe­re the rights of ani­mals are respec­ted so that they can have a digni­fied life, free of explo­ita­ti­on, mistre­at­ment and expe­ri­men­ta­ti­on.

For this reason, they col­la­bo­ra­te with the Fund­ación para el Ase­so­r­ami­en­to y Acción en Defen­sa de los Ani­ma­les (FAA­DA) so that they can con­ti­nue with their mis­si­on to achie­ve a socie­ty whe­re coexis­tence bet­ween all living beings is based on respect, and they also col­la­bo­ra­te with La Lli­ga per a la Pro­tecció d’Ani­mals i Plan­tes de Bar­ce­lo­na, a sanc­tua­ry that takes in aban­do­ned, home­l­ess and/​or mistrea­ted ani­mals until they find the per­fect fami­ly to spend the rest of their lives with.

They also have the ​“PETA-Appro­ved Vegan” cer­ti­fi­ca­te, which accre­dits them as a vegan brand.

At KUMI they are awa­re that more and more clo­thes are being pro­du­ced and con­su­med, gene­ra­ting high levels of pol­lu­ti­on and at very com­pe­ti­ti­ve pri­ces as a result of the pre­ca­rious­ness of labour. 

The­r­e­fo­re, com­mit­ted to chan­ging this situa­ti­on, they work on demand, pro­du­cing small quan­ti­ties of stock, qua­li­ty clot­hing and foot­wear, for grea­ter com­fort and durability.

They are a trans­pa­rent brand!

The COSH! sus­taina­bi­li­ty team was able to talk to the foun­ders of the brand and they assu­re us that KUMI is a very trans­pa­rent brand.

They pro­vi­ded us with infor­ma­ti­on about whe­re they make their pro­ducts, the names of their sup­pli­ers and even show­ed us some certificates.