Guillaume and Maxime are the founders of the versatile, vegan sneaker brand
[ MEEKO ]
Founded in: 2020
Design and office location: France 🇫🇷
Raw material sourcing locations: Portugal 🇵🇹, Italy 🇮🇹, Spain 🇪🇸
Manufacturing and production locations: Guimarães, Portugal 🇵🇹, China 🇨🇳
Meet the founders
Guillaume, the co-founder in charge of Marketing, Sales and Products, has accumulated extensive experience in product marketing. Before embarking on this new adventure, he worked for renowned companies such as Asics, where he gained an in-depth understanding of sports products and their launch. He later held the position of e-commerce manager at Sportsystem, where he developed valuable skills in online commerce. His role as sales and marketplace project management manager at Diatly allowed him to hone his skills in complex project management and discover the world of online marketplaces.
On the other hand, Maxime, co-founder in charge of Operations, Finance and Acquisition, built his career around financial management and talent acquisition. He started in finance & management control at M.Moustache, a menswear company, where he gained an in-depth understanding of the financial management of a fashion brand. He later moved on to become an account manager at Menlook, where he developed his skills in account management and customer acquisition. His experience as an Amazon expert at Diatly allowed him to become familiar with the inner workings of online commerce on the world's largest sales platform.
However, Guillaume and Maxime felt the need to create something bigger, something that transcended purely commercial goals. Driven by a growing awareness of environmental and social issues, they decided to join forces to create a responsible brand, combining their complementary skills. Their shared vision is to create a company that combines commercial performance with social and environmental responsibility. They became aware of the power of business to have a positive impact on society and the environment.
Thus, they placed sustainability and ethics at the heart of their project, committing to minimizing their environmental footprint, supporting social causes, and promoting transparency in their supply chain. Together, Guillaume and Maxime launched a brand that embodies their values and their commitment to a better world.
About the brand
MEEKO is the promise to explore all your favorite playgrounds without changing your sneakers. They combine urban silhouettes with technical elements inspired by the great outdoors, for sneakers to wear in the city, as well as in the forest. They also pay the utmost attention to their production process, which is designed to be respectful of living beings (materials, production location, energy mix, end-of-life of the product, etc.).
Their sneakers are 100% vegan and they have carefully selected their materials and traced them to ensure that they were not associated with the loss of wildlife habitat. They use recycled Cordura, recycled nylon, recycled rubber, and natural rubber.
MEEKO sneaker production is split between Portugal and China, depending on the technicality of the model. Their Portuguese partner is located in Guimarães (near Porto). Their factory has the particularity of being 80% powered by solar panels. The goods are then transported by truck.
Their Chinese partner is located in Quanzhou. They have the expertise and tools necessary to meet the quality, sustainability, and technical standards they aim for. They therefore chose to partially produce in Asia, but in a controlled and demanding manner. They chose a partner whose social and environmental audits are rigorous and compliant with their standards. Areas for improvement remain (particularly regarding the energy mix), but the factory is committed to addressing these points. Production is currently shipped by boat (they refuse air transport) and will soon be shipped by train (when the situation in Russia allows).
Not everything is perfect, and it probably never will be, but they are doing their utmost to find a balance between product performance, price accessibility, and environmental commitment.
Eco-responsible impact
Every step of their product manufacturing process is carefully considered. They do their utmost to limit their impact on biodiversity. They decided to focus their efforts on the 4 factors that have the greatest impact on living beings: animal welfare - the exploitation of natural resources (primary forests, water) - pollution (carbon emissions and waste) - energy footprint. Although their approach is still far from perfect, their sneakers remain far more respectful of living beings than the vast majority of models on the market.
Beyond using recycled materials, MEEKO also selects committed suppliers involved in approaches to upcycle their waste and production scraps. Their assembly factory thus collects all its scraps, which are recycled by a partner to give them a second life when possible. Their commitments as a brand begin with their products and extend through the #STEPCLOSER program they created last year. They allocate 3% of their time and 30% of their profits to this program, through which they support local initiatives to protect threatened wildlife.
The big pluses
MEEKO gives €5 back per pair to NGOs protecting the wild world. To reduce their energy footprint, they chose an assembly factory powered by 75% solar panels , thus reducing their emissions by 50 tons per year.
The brand's values
♻️ Recycling ↓
MEEKO uses recycled Cordura, recycled nylon, recycled rubber, and natural rubber. The brand also selects suppliers committed to approaches to upcycle their waste and production scraps. Their assembly factory thus collects all its scraps, which are recycled by a partner to give them a second life when possible.
🌀 Zero-waste lifestyle ↓
Their assembly factory collects all scraps, which are recycled by a partner to give them a second life when possible.
🇪🇺 Made in Europe ↓
Their partners are located in Europe (Portugal, Spain, and Italy)
🌿 Organic / Bio ↓
Their sneakers are 100% vegan, and they have carefully selected their materials, which they have traced to ensure that they were not associated with the loss of wildlife habitat.
🌳 Forest preservation ↓
Their commitments as a brand go beyond their products thanks to the #STEPCLOSER program, created last year. They allocate 3% of their time and 30% of their profits to it to support local initiatives to protect threatened wildlife. The first protected species is the Tapanuli orangutan in Sumatra, Indonesia. In partnership with the Sumatra Rainforest Institute, they contribute to the preservation of this species. More recently, the Pams Foundation joined them, an NGO working to protect wildlife in Tanzania, particularly African elephants.
👐🏽 Social and solidarity impact ↓
Their commitments as a brand begin with their products and extend through the #STEPCLOSER program they created last year. They allocate 3% of their time and 30% of their profits to this program, through which they support local initiatives to protect threatened wildlife.
[ MEEKO exists to (re)connect our generations with nature. ]
