Erem's biocircular ambitions

摘要

Eric Swartz thought he was finished with the footwear industry when he sold Timberland - a company founded by his grandfather, Nathan - to VF Corp in 2011 but his son Noah had other ideas. An avid adventurer, the youngest Swartz had spotted a gap in the market for hardwearing desert boots that would support wearers in the toughest terrain but that would also be made with exacting environmental standards. He convinced his father to partner him for Erem, a brand that officially launched at the end of 2021 and which hopes to demonstrate a new way of working. "As a fourth-generation bootmaker, I absolutely insist that there is a different way to do things because there needs to be a different way to do things," Noah Swartz tells World Leather. "The scale of the issues facing us requires a new paradigm and a new model; Erem believes that Biocircular, which we've already achieved, can be this model." 'Biocircular', a trademarked term, refers to bio - made only from materials and constructions that have a proven path back to nature - and circular, where there is a responsible next life for each component. Noah Swartz believes this way of working is crucial because the climate crisis requires fundamentally different approaches to how we do things, including how we manufacture and enjoy products that seem as innocuous as hiking boots. "Most people don't realise their favourite pair of performance footwear is likely just plastic layers or natural materials so processed with things like heavy metals that they are basically unrecognisable, glued together with toxic chemicals."