Mallet London Introduces "The GRFTR Fleck" with Sustainable Aspects
Mallet London, the British sneaker brand that is taking the US by storm, is taking another important step, this time towards sustainability.
The new GRFTR Fleck sneaker which launches on June 1st, as part of their Pre AW22 collection, marks the beginning of a deliberate move by the brand to start their journey into becoming more sustainable, changing the way they approach their products and business, from both a production level and exploring the end of the footwear lifecycle.
‘This has been a long time coming’ says Tommy Mallet, the British Creative Director and Co-Founder. ‘It's exciting that we get to take one of our iconic and best-selling styles and make these changes on our journey towards a more sustainable sneaker.’ On the work they have been doing in the past year to gear up to this moment, he says ‘We have updated our leather sourcing, so we now exclusively work with environmentally conscious manufacturers, and our mesh, which is used on most of our styles now comes from recycled mesh. Although we are still far from where we want to be, it's progress.’
The GRFTR is a classic silhouette for the brand and remains part of its core collection. The sneaker, designed in London, is crafted from leather and features the signature Mallet London heel clip. This time, the thick sole of the GRFTR is made from 20% recycled material, hence the fleck detailing you see. The laces have been crafted from fully recycled plastic. Not stopping there, the iconic black and gold packaging the shoes are presented in, is made up of 80% recycled materials, as is the branded shoehorn that is included as a finishing touch with every pair of Mallet London sneakers.
The shoe will initially drop in black and white for men, and black and white for women.
The name, like all Mallet sneakers, is personal for Tommy. A ‘grafter’ in the UK means a 'hard worker'. This shoe was called the GRFTR because it reflects the work ethic of Tommy and the graft that had to be done to get the brand to where it is today.
‘Customers these days are particularly engaged with brands with purpose’ says Tommy, ‘ones that lead with authenticity and are transparent with their processes. The bigger picture is for us to move towards a more environmentally friendly business module. But for now, this is an important step in the right direction.’
As an added initiative, a customer can turn in their minimum one-year-old GRFTR Flecks at a Mallet London store or online and have them recycled into new shoes and receive a 10% discount on a future purchase.
The GRFTR Fleck drops worldwide in limited numbers on June 1 exclusively at us.mallet.com and is priced at $265.