When discussing manufacturing in apparel and footwear, you’ve undoubtedly heard the criticism of many jobs being outsourced to China. But that’s definitely not the case for every brand.
In 2021, Rothy’s—which was founded in 2012, launched in 2016, and is known for its environmentally friendly shoes that are made from single-use plastic bottles and other recycled materials—made a commitment to reach circular production and carbon neutrality by the end of 2023. Two years later, and the company is close to reaching that goal with the help of its chief supply-chain officer, Heather Howard, who’s been with the company since 2017. Howard told Retail Brew that the company’s manufacturing process, which uses an entirely vertically integrated model and 3D knitting technology, sets Rothy’s apart in the footwear industry.
Rothy’s owns and operates a vertically integrated facility in Dongguan, China, which works in tandem with the company’s design headquarters in San Francisco. This means that only Rothy’s employees, and no other manufacturers, touch their shoes during production.
- Howard was brought on in 2017 as VP of operations and people. She held the role of chief operations officer from 2021 to 2022 before taking over as CSCO full time, and now her efforts are focused on ensuring Rothy’s supply chain is as sustainable and efficient as possible.
The vertically integrated manufacturing process was particularly helpful during 2021, when retailers across the board faced supply-chain issues.
- By using recycled materials for new shoes, costs from buying raw materials and outside suppliers create a more nimble supply chain.
“We’ve also been able to reduce our carbon emissions at the source by working closely with our shipping partner to optimize how we ship and by installing solar panels at the factory,” Howard told Retail Brew.
How does Rothy’s make its shoes?
The process starts by designing a style and establishing a color palette at the San Francisco design studio. From there, renderings of the styles are sent to the team in China to construct each style using the 3D knitting technology that makes the shoes and eliminates the wasteful process of cutting a circle from a square of material.
- Once the design is created, the shoe color and design is threaded together from recycled plastic water bottles.
- Once the shoe is complete, all that’s left to do is place them in shoe boxes that ship directly to customers without using box-in-box packaging waste.
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To close the loop, Rothy’s introduced and expanded a shoe-recycling program where customers can bring their shoes to a retail store in exchange for discounts on future purchases. The shoes are then sent to Rothy’s recycling partners that break them down and separate them to be used in future products.
“Our recycling takeback program…furthers our goal to close Rothy’s loop,” Howard said. “Not only do we transform recycled plastic bottles into shoes and accessories, but [we] then recycle those products at the end of their life cycle.”
A big opportunity: A sustainable and fully circular production model doesn’t just reduce the environmental impact, there’s a business opportunity in it as well. The global sustainable footwear market is projected to reach $13.3 billion by 2030. Plus, Rothy’s, which started out as a women’s-only brand, introduced men’s lines in 2021 as a means of bringing in more customers.
- At the end of 2021, Alpargatas S.A., a Brazilian lifestyle brand, made a $200 million capital investment in Rothy’s, an investment that put the company at a $1 billion valuation.
- “We see huge potential for its growth—on a comparable trajectory to our women’s business,” Rothy’s co-founder and CEO Stephen Hawthornthwaite told Footwear News. “We recognize that there is a growing demand in the men’s market for stylish, sustainable footwear. Just as we’ve pushed for a more sustainable future in the women’s market, we’re proud to continue paving the way for sustainable innovation in a new category.”
Looking ahead: Owning a factory gives the company many advantages and opportunities, Howard said, and there’s more to come when tackling sustainability and the supply chain.
“Looking ahead, we’re excited to introduce new innovative solutions in plastic and recycling,” she said.—KM