Etnies has a special vegan footwear section on their website, and they have two new skate-friendly skate shoes. They are leather-free and labelled as vegan.
I find these most impressive:
Etnies "WINDROW VULC X SHEEP navy yellow white"
(currently on the Etnies website)DESCRIPTION
The Windrow Vulc is a single wrapped vulcanized constructed shoe with single wrap foxing. It has a Foam Lite 2 molded EVA footbed and Geo-Hex tread pattern. Rubber heel wrap for support with 400NBS rubber outsole.
PRODUCT DETAILS
Item Code: 4107000555/483
Color: Navy/yellow/white
Features:
- Force Shield reinforced upper
- Single wrapped vulcanized construction
- Single wrap vulcanized foxing tape
- Foam Lite 2 molded EVA footbed
- Geo-Hex tread pattern
- Rubber heel wrap for support
- 400NBS rubber outsole compound
- Synthetic Suede/ Canvas
- Vegan
But these don't look bad either, although I'm not a fan of no padding at all below the ankle. And the thin rubber coating in the ollie area and the super tiny (and thin) rubber pad around the tip (kickflip area) is probably not going to make much of a difference
Etnies "JAMESON VULC LS X SHEEP white white gum"
(currently on the Etnies website)DESCRIPTION
Sheep is back and this time, herded by etnies. Originally created in 1996 as a fun animal friendly brand, Sheep shoes quickly created a cult following of talented skateboarders, artists, and vegans around the world. This Sheep capsule is 100% animal friendly, made with all synthetic materials and will sure have fans flocking to buy them.
[Note: Sheep Shoes was a skate shoe company in the 1990s, named "Sheep" after the pronounciation of the word "cheap", with a French accent. The owner of Sole Tech, i.e. Etnies, Emerica, and éS footwear, is Pierre-André Senizergues, formerly one of the best freestyle pros, back in the 1980s. He's French. I don't think Sheep Shoes was entirely vegan, i.e. I think they also had some leather shoes. For some history of Sheep, see here. It's nice to see that apparently all Etnies shoes under the "Sheep label" seem to be vegan.]
Item Code: 4107000541/105
Color: White/white/gum
Features:
- STI Foam Lite 1 insole
- Midsole egg-crate construction
- Geo-Hex tread pattern
- One piece clean toe design
- Low toe box, keeping the vamp closer to your foot
- Rubber foxing is raised in the ollie area for extra durablility
- Single wrap vulcanized foxing tape
- Vulcanized version of our best selling shoe
- Canvas
... and another colourway of the same shoe:
Etnies "JAMESON VULC LS X SHEEP black white gum"
PRODUCT DETAILS
Item Code: 4107000541/979
Color: Black/white/gum
Color: Black/white/gum
Features: see above
Note: the insole artwork is the same as on the 2017 Etnies Ryan Lay pro model (Etnies Jameson HT Ryan Lay colourway).