Interview: Repairing Sneakers At VEJA Brooklyn

If the words cobbler shop brings to mind images of a dark workshop and a craftsman hunched over a dusty workbench, you’ll be surprised to see what popped up in Veja Brooklyn in March. 

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The Williamsburg VEJA store is a light-flooded space with soothing, white stucco walls. Enter the front doors and a sign with brightly lit letters – REPAIR –  will catch your attention from the back, a sign of what VEJA is aiming to do: bring new light to the old. 

VEJA, the shoe brand committed to sustainability, aims to create ecological sneakers and address every aspect of their product’s life cycle. Constantly looking to improve their environmental footprint, VEJA began collecting used sneakers for recycling.

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However, they quickly noticed that customers discarded shoes that only needed repairs. This led to their new focus: extending the life of existing shoes. As the VEJA team puts it, “The most ecological sneaker is the one you’re already wearing.”

The Brooklyn cobbler shop follows in the footsteps of five other VEJA cobbler locations: Bordeaux, Paris, Berlin, London, and Madrid.

Visiting the Brooklyn Cobbler Shop 

If you’re curious to visit a VEJA cobbler shop, here’s what you can expect:

Upon entering the Brooklyn Cobbler shop, you’ll be greeted by Chrystal Ritter, the Brooklyn shop’s cobbler. With a background from the Fashion Institute of Technology and professional experience in footwear and accessories, Chrystal has a deep understanding of material care.

After a quick consultation, Chrystal will suggest the best approach to care for your shoes, provide an estimated time frame, and tell you the cost upfront. She can handle everything from a “full repair” (a “resurrection,” as she jokingly calls it) to minor fixes, or “clean and paint” jobs, with prices ranging from $10-$100. VEJA cobblers will look at any shoes, not just VEJA sneakers, except for performance sneakers, children’s footwear, and high heels. Meeting the Brooklyn VEJA team will assure you that your footwear is in good hands.

Repairing your shoes will change your mindset about them. VEJA aims to repair not only our scuffed sneakers but also our relationship with our belongings: “Seeing your shoes being repaired makes you think about and see their lifespan,” the Veja team explained.

Watching Chrystal sculpt your shoe soles (her favorite part of the process) will shift your view of shoes from disposable items to cherished possessions worth caring for.

Repair Beyond the Shoes

VEJA hopes the cobbler shops will inspire a new mindset towards shoe care by strengthening not just the physical durability of the shoes, but also their “emotional durability,” as the VEJA team put it. Two generations ago, there was a stronger culture of repair. As cobbler shops declined, the mindset of care and repair dwindled alongside it.

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The shift towards caring for what you have and extending the product’s life could lead to a shift in investing in higher-quality and more sustainable products. “Right now, the shoes people are bringing in are really beat up,” explains the Veja team. “ As people know more, they’ll care for them more and bring them in earlier.” 

Tips to Care For Your Shoes

VEJA, in addition to repairing shoes at their cobbler shops, aims to teach customers to care for their products. They’ve partnered with The Act of Caring, a Swedish sustainable care products brand, to create a shoe care kit including a brush, cleaner, and leather balm. During Paris Fashion Week, they hosted a workshop on proper shoe care.

Even if there isn’t a cobbler shop nearby, you can start your own shoe care journey with these tips from the VEJA team:

• Keep an old toothbrush under your sink and use it with a little water and dish soap to remove minor scuffs and marks.
• When cleaning, hold your hand inside the shoes to feel how saturated they’re getting. Stop before water soaks completely through.
• For suede, ensure the shoes get equally wet to avoid drying spots.

VEJA plans to expand their cobbler shops to more cities worldwide, giving us an exciting glimpse into the future path of sustainable footwear.