CARLOTA BARRERA X STEVE MONO
UNITED AGAINST RACISM COLLABORATION
As many of us, we spent these days listening, reading, reflecting. Acknowledging, not for the first time but with far more intensity, our privileges, and reflecting on how we can change, improve, and push things further. The systemic racism that led to George Floyd’s death is also at our doorstep. It’s not an American problem, and these are not isolated incidents.
Our roots as a brand are in Spain and the UK, and while it might not always make international headlines that same systemic racism, and that same blindness to white privilege exists here too.
We know that being quietly ‘not racist’ is not enough and that white people must be actively anti-racist. We’ve started by listening, by educating ourselves on our own blind spots and learning how to call out injustice and oppression when we see it. The ripple effect is already happening, and we’re doing what we can to keep it going.
As part of this, we wanted to find ways within our means as a small growing brand to make a tangible contribution as well. And so we have chosen to launch this special charitable collaboration.
One of our very first collaborators was Steve Mono, the Spanish crafters with whom we developed an exclusive footwear collection entirely handmade in Spain. The shoes have been previously featured in our runway shows, but we are now making these samples available for public purchase.
The shoes were designed in London and made entirely by hand in Spain by a small team of skilled shoemakers. They are made in a small workshop in Cáceres, owned and run by the same family for three generations who rely on the same machines and techniques they’ve been using for over 60 years. Taking the basic construction of the farmhand sandal as the foundation, the shoes are made from leather with rubber soles sourced from tyre factory scraps.
Made from Italian leather, all the pieces are vegetable-tanned, a completely "chromium-free" method that involves no harmful chemicals. It is an old-world, artisanal process and due to the more gentle treatments, the durability of vegetable tanned leather is considerably higher than that of chrome-tanned leather.
The shoes have been previously featured in our runway shows, but we are now making these samples available for public purchase.
We want to use our small platform to make a change, and we will be donating 100% of the profits made from the sales of each pair of shoes to the following worldwide organisations who are helping to fight against racism.