Materials that belong to the earth.
From seam to sole.
Every SOLK is built from the ground up with resources chosen not only for how they perform in your life, but for how they return to nature. If the right material didn’t exist, we invented it. From chrome-free leather to compostable aglets (lace tips), every choice is designed on purpose: strong, beautiful, and safe. Sneakers created with endings in mind.
The challenge
The sneaker industry has long relied on materials that perform brilliantly in the short term, but leave problems behind in the long run. Think metal eyelets for laces, plastic aglets at the tips, foams for cushioning that can only degrade into harmful micro-plastics, and synthetic rubbers for soles. They make shoes strong, lightweight, and ready to take a beating.
Don’t get us wrong: These materials are impressive in what they can do. They deliver comfort, durability, and performance at scale. But their biggest strength is also their flaw. They were never designed to return. Once they’ve done their miles, they linger for decades, sometimes centuries. That was the challenge we set out to solve: to keep all the good, the comfort, the resilience, the lightness, while removing the harm.
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Full-Leather Upper
Knitted Plant-Fiber Lining
Natural Rubber Sole
Fade Foam
Full Leather Lining
Tencel Laces
Compostable Aglets
Biobased Glue
Chrome-free, heavy metal-free leather, responsibly tanned in Germany. Strong and supple for daily wear, yet safe to compost at the end of its life. Durable enough for miles, beautiful enough for daily style.
Zero-waste knitted to shape from biobased fibers. Soft against the skin, breathable, and crafted without excess offcuts. Comfort in the present, compostable in the future.
Tapped directly from trees, natural rubber brings resilience, grip, and a smooth ride. Unlike synthetic soles, ours can return to the earth at the end of their journey.
A cushioning innovation developed in-house. Soft underfoot, durable for everyday wear, and engineered to safely compost when its job is done. Proof that comfort and responsibility can coexist.
A premium touch that grows softer with every wear. Designed to last through years of use, then safely fade like the rest of the shoe.
Made from wood-based fibers, strong and smooth to the touch. Designed to tie securely, and untie cleanly when it’s time for compost.
The tips of most laces are plastic. Ours are different. Specially developed, partly biobased, and proven to compost without a trace.
Invisible, but vital. Our adhesives are carefully selected to be strong enough to allow us to use as little as possible yet hold your sneakers together through wear.
