Blue Flag shoes have two goals: to be comfortable, all-purpose footwear, as fit for formal dinners as they are for casual gatherings.

And secondly, to tackle the overwhelming amount of plastic that ends up in the world’s oceans.

“A Blue Flag is the international designation for a pristine beach, and we’re committed to seeing more Blue Flags fly,” the company writes on an ongoing Kickstarter campaign.

The creators added that the idea was born at a wedding, when a group of men complained that their formal shoes were not comfortable. The group started wondering — are there no shoes that both look and feel good?

“When we looked, we found sandals or sneakers at one end of the market – and formal shoes on the other,” they write. “There wasn’t much in between and nothing that crossed occasions well.

“So we created a mash-up… a super comfortable, versatile and design-forward loafer with the environment in mind.”

The result is a lightweight, machine washable, durable and flexible shoe aimed at beach attire and also formal events.

 

Blue Flag and the Plastic impact

After a year of prototyping and iterating the shoes, the team found a design that worked.

But they wanted to go further — and ensure sustainability was at the heart of the process.

“Every year over 8m metric tons of plastic enter the world’s oceans,” the company adds. Each pair of the shoes is therefore made with around 8 discarded water bottles, which are collected in bulk, shred into tiny pieces, then melted together for the yarn made to cover the shoe uppers.

Similarly, 100% recycled thermoplastic rubber is used for the outsoles and heels, and the insoles are made of polyfoam.