Wear Vegan shoes

In March 2015, Kolkata-based Manish Pareek bumped into one of the most popular vegan-crusaders in the country, Anand Siva, at a conference. The very next day, Pareek, who was a vegetarian, turned vegan. “Siva insights on veganism had tremendous influence on me,” says Pareek, 29. He always felt the urge to bring a change in people’s perception and attitude towards animal rights and the environment. Veganism gave his vision a direction.

A Load off Feet He realised changing food habits was not enough. “Why not start with what people wear?” he thought. Visits to tanneries had exposed him to the alarming effects of the leather industry on both animals and the environment. By the end of 2015, Pareek launched Vegan Fashion Private Limited along with his cousin Mayank Jain,25, -dedicated to making shoes with PETA approved vegan alternative of leather, with the motion- ‘saving the planet one shoe at a time’. “  The material is made out of polymere fibre and can be mistake for real leather. Even our workers refuse to believe that it’s not leather,” he adds.

 
Pareek currently imports the material from Korea. “We are developing a material that would be better suited to our weather conditions,” he informs. Pareek’s collection of sandals, slip-ons and formal shoes for men, casual wallets and belts is available online, under the label NOHIDE at vegshoes.in and Amazon.com.