We're about to bring you a whole load of 2011 product news from last week's OutDoor show in Germany, but one our favourite things at this year's show was also one of the less likely in the shape of the Keen Santiago Project.
The what? Well, sat at the front of the Keen stand was a proper Heath Robinson-style DESMA machine complete with clouds of steam, big heated plates, levers and so on, the way things ought to be...
Turns out that the machine was one of 200 or so obsolete direct-vulcanising shoe-making machines from the 50s and 60s which Keen bought and restored to working order – the one in the pics is some 53 years old.
Stage two of the project was to build a factory in Santiago, the Dominican Republic. The location was carefully chosen as it's close to the US, Keen's main market, thus reducing transportation times and emissions.
The shoes themselves are produced by a local workforce and have a hand-stitched upper made from natural canvas, then using direct vulcanisation – just heat and pressure – natural rubber is pressed onto the upper forming the sole and toe-cap at the same time. And by autumn 2011, the relatively small amounts of electricity needed to power the process will be obtained solely from solar energy.
The shoe, says Keen, will also embody Keen comfort through the use of various features including a canvas-covered, natural rubber foot bed for underfoot cushioning.
On top of all that, part of the proceeds from the sales of the new shoe – available in the UK early next year – will go to establish a Keen microfinance fund, which will offer small loans to people all round the world with entrepeneurial ideas.
And we reckon that's all kind of good, both for the local economy of the Dominican Republic and more widely too. It's also in step with Keen's wider commitment to sustainability which includes the use of natural materials like canvas, merino and cork, waste products from sole off-cuts for rubber bag bottoms and recycled materials like polyester from drinks bottles. Keen boxes are made from recycled, biodegradable materials too.
But mostly we just like the fact that the DESMA machines have that Wallace and Grommett thing going on. So you can be shallow and sustainable at the same time...
