Is it possible to find stylish, durable, and ethical boots? Thankfully, it is. And these 18 brands are proving that fact.
These ethical boot brands have great selections too—you’ll find consciously made heeled booties, flat short boots, tall boots, and rain boots in this curation.
What ethical considerations are there? In this guide, I looked for brands with transparent production practices that treat all workers fairly. This always includes paying fair wages and ensuring safe working conditions, and may also include healthcare, paid time off, educational resources, and opportunities for growth.
Is leather ethical? You may notice in this guide that a majority of brands utilize leather for their shoes. I am a vegetarian myself and strongly believe conventional leather is far from ideal. There are ways, though, to reduce its environmental footprint and even source leather from regenerative, climate beneficial farms. And when choosing leather, vegetable-tanned leather is much preferred whenever possible since typical chrome tanning is highly toxic.
Unfortunately, most vegan leathers aren’t so great either. Many vegan faux leathers are PVC, which is made from petroleum (gross!), or PU, which is still a completely synthetic and non-biodegradable material.
Thankfully, the options for sustainable, vegan leathers have increased in recent years and I do look for eco-friendly vegan bags and even some types of shoes. Certain categories of products, though, are really really tough to find high-quality and eco-friendly vegan options for. In my experience, boots are one of those categories.
I did find three great vegan, responsible, and ecologically sustainable brands for this guide, though, and look forward to seeing more options come to the market!
Price Range Key: $$ = $100 – $200 | $$$ = $200 – $300 | $$$+ = Over $300
Note: Some links in this guide are affiliate links. As always, I only share brands I truly believe in that meet high standards for ethics and aesthetics. Cover image from Dear Frances.
1. Christy Dawn
The vintage-inspired Victorian paddock boot from Christy Dawn makes for the ultimate sustainable boots for fall. Each pair is handcrafted locally in Los Angeles from repurposed deadstock leather. The boots are available in black or a range of versatile neutral colors.
Price Range: $$$
2. NAE
Standing for No Animal Exploitation, NAE has all-vegan footwear and accessories made slowly and ethically in Portugal. NAE’s fall and winter boot collection features a variety of options made from unique footwear fabrics like organic cotton, Piñatex, and recycled PET.
Price Range: $$
3. Nisolo
Nisolo is a fair trade shoe brand with transparent production practices. The ethical shoe brand owns its own factory in Peru, ensuring more than fair wages, healthcare, and safe, healthy working conditions. Nisolo’s leather is always sourced as a byproduct of the meat industry.
Price Range: $$ = $$$
4. Thesus (Vegan)
Thesus’ The Weekend Boot is all-vegan and made from 95% natural or recycled materials. They’re durable and sturdy enough to wear on hikes, comfy enough to wear to the grocery store, and chic enough to wear out to brunch.
Tip: size up if you’re planning to wear thick socks in winter!
Price Range: $$
5. ABLE
ABLE is a fair trade label with fashionable, ethically made bags, shoes, apparel, and jewelry. Committed to paving a better future for garment workers and makers around the world, ABLE has led the way in publishing the wages for all of their workers (including the lowest-paid) through their accountABLE initiative.
And, I mean, how cute are their ethical boots?
Price Range: $$ – $$$
6. Coclico
Coclico’s beautiful timeless shoes, including their beautiful ethical boots, are thoughtfully handcrafted by artisans in Mallorca, Spain. The brand sources its materials, such as cork, wood, and sustainably-sourced leather locally in Europe. The company is also carbon-neutral, purchasing carbon credits to offset emissions.
Price Range: $$$+
7. The Root Collective
To ensure responsible production, The Root Collective sources their fabric directly from cooperatives that pay fair wages and works with two shoemaker workshops in Guatemala who produce their shoes. These shoemakers earn 50 – 400% above the Fair Wage minimum in Guatemala.
The brand has fabulous short ethical leather boots in versatile neutral (yet beautiful!) shades.
Price Range: $$$
8. Brother Vellies
Brother Vellies is a Black woman-owned brand that was founded by Aurora James in 2013 to celebrate cultural history and keep African practices and techniques alive. All of Brother Vellies’ shoes are crafted globally by artisans using timeless artisanal crafts. [Check out more Black-owned conscious brands in this guide.]
Price Range: $$$+
9. Fortress of Inca
Fortress of Inca works with three Peruvian shoemaker partners with deep experience in leather shoemaking. The talented shoemakers at each of these workshops craft Fortress of Inca’s high-quality, ethically-made boots with sustainably-sourced leather.
Price Range: $$$
10. Po-Zu (Vegan)
Po-Zu creates sustainable, ethically made boots from natural, vegan materials. The brand uses earth-friendly vegan fabrics such as linen, cork, organic cotton, and OEKO-TEX certified Eco Microfiber. The brand has also chosen to use natural latex rather than controversial solvent-based glue.
The ethical shoe brand ensures fair labor standards with a strict code of ethical and sustainable conduct for their suppliers.
Price Range: $$
11. Darzah
As a nonprofit ethical fashion brand, Darzah is deeply committed to improving the livelihoods of the artisans they partner with. Darzah works with refugee and low-income women artisans in Palestine’s West Bank who handcraft and hand-embroider each of Darzah’s pieces, including their ethical ankle boots.
Price Range: $$$
12. The RealReal (Resale)
One of the best ways to get designer-level style and quality shoes sustainably (and on a budget) is to shop from luxury consignment shops. Not all of us have these types of shops near us — but thankfully, TheRealReal makes it simple to check out all sorts of pre-loved goods — including designer boots.
Price Range: $ – $$$+
13. Dear Frances
Merging ethical production with exceptional design, Dear Frances creates truly standout shoes made with a conscience — including some really striking ethical boots. Dear Frances has worked with the same multi-generational artisan factory in Italy since they were founded.
The luxury brand focuses on creating quality classics that can be worn for many years to come.
Price Range: $$$+
14. Poppy Barley
Poppy Barley is a B-Corp Certified ethical luxury brand based in Canada partnering with family-owned factories in Mexico and Brazil that provide sustainable employment opportunities, paying living wages and providing health care and pension benefits, and ensuring fair hours.
The brand is also taking significant steps to continually improve their social and environmental impact, reporting on their progress with annual reports.
Price Range: $$$+
15. REI Used
For eco-friendly and ethical hiking boots and heavy-duty outdoors boots that respect the environment you’re enjoying, look no further than REI’s Good & Used collection. REI has curated pre-loved outdoor gear — including hiking boots — from a variety of brands.
16. BED|STU
BED|STU uses natural vegetable-tanned leather for their mindfully crafted, well-made shoes. Each pair of ethical boots from the brand is hand-tooled, hand-woven, and hand-finished to create truly unique footwear that wears well through time.
The ethical shoe brand uses veg-tan leather, cork, plant-based natural dyes, natural latex insoles, and water-based glues.
Price Range: $$$
17. RAFA
For sustainable boots that make a statement, look no further than RAFA. The brand’s bold booties and boots are crafted from recycled textiles and feature orthopedic foam insoles for maximum comfort. Each pair is handcrafted with care by a group of 20 artisans in Los Angeles.
Price Range: $$$
18. Timberland
Timberland is a large brand that is taking meaningful action towards improving their environmental responsibility. The company has a commitment to become 100% circular and source only regeneratively grown raw materials by 2030. And today, they have a “Responsible Leather Collection” with recycled leather, regenerative leather, and certified Better Leather where you can find ethical and sustainable winter boots.
Price Range: $$
You May Also Want to Check Out:
Consciously-Made Sweaters to Keep You Cozy
14 Eco-Friendly and Vegan Footwear Brands to Love
The Best Ethical & Sustainable Coats to Stay Toasty Warm this Winter
