The latest trend penetrating the fashion industry are companies that give back. Some brands choose to donate resources to those in need, like Toms shoes, and others have more specific causes, like clothing companies that help gender equality around the globe. The idea itself is quite remarkable—that your purchase can go further than your closet, and impact a greater cause. One brand, BANGS Shoes, is taking college campuses and social media by storm. The company is pretty spectacular, and here are 10 reasons why you should buy their shoes.
1. First, the shoes themselves are incredibly slick and stylish. With a canvas body and rubber sole giving them a minimalist flair, how could you not want to buy a pair of these?
2. The founder, Hannah Davis, was once a humble college graduate, as many of us will soon be. After teaching English in China, she was left with a cool idea and an adventurous spirit, so she began creating her own company. If you’re curious to learn more, you can check out her TedX talk here.
3. The idea behind them is pretty unique, being based off the simple, monochromatic shoes worn by workers and farmers in China (“Bangs” actually means help in Mandarin).
4. BANGS shoes are sustainably made at a factory in Asia whose internal culture matches their own standards.
5. Unlike other organizations, BANGS shoes supports sustainable change. They invest in entrepreneurs, so that hypothetically, you’re teaching a man to fish versus giving him a fish, and therefore helping people help themselves.
6. The cause is definitely worthy of your money. BANGS shoes invests 20% of their net profit into hand-selected entrepreneurs, through the help of their nonprofit partner Kiva.
7. Not only are they worthy of your money, 99% of loans given through their nonprofit partner are repaid, which is an incredibly high success rate.
8. It’s a cyclical process. Once the loans are repaid, BANGS shoes and their partner do not take the money, but invest it in a new entrepreneur, meaning that one loan can cycle through innumerable entrepreneurs, creating many businesses, such as Amira’s business, Kichange.
9. They market their product through students on high school and college campuses. So if you’re super interested, you can help the company by being a Brand Ambassador, which some Skidmore students already are!
10. Their motto is to use your adventure to help other’s find theirs. When you wear them, you become a member of an adventurous, daring, socially conscious group of young adults who want to make an impact through the simplest part of their lives—wearing shoes.