Sustainability in fashion is no longer niche, as savvy brands are appealing to eco-conscious consumers by championing their ethical values. Delivering a masterclass is the footwear brand VEJA, which combines sustainable practices with a smart presence on Instagram.

Recent reports have found that 62% of global shoppers want companies to take a stand on social, cultural, political and environmental issues. Consumers are backing brands that have ethical and sustainable practices, with 48% of eco-conscious shoppers now researching clothes, shoes and bags to ensure they’re environmentally friendly. This shift in sentiment has given rise to a new wave of consumer awareness and behaviour, where brands are expected to do more and people are becoming more eagle-eyed with the products they buy.

This increased engagement between shopper and brand means transparency has become a valuable trait. With 67% of people surveyed in the UK saying that Instagram is a place that enables interaction with brands, fashion companies such as VEJA are turning to Instagram to build genuine connections within a space shared directly with their target audience.

VEJA stands apart from the fast-paced crowd of high street fashion, with a slow approach that feels perfectly in keeping with the new wave of conscious consumption. Founded on the principles of transparency and end-to-end sustainability, the VEJA brand is built on being true to its promise and protecting the planet.

The brainchild of Sébastien Kopp and François-Ghislain Morillion – two former investment bankers who wanted to challenge fashion norms by introducing a radically new mindset to footwear – VEJA was launched as a company rooted in quality and sustainability.

Launched in 2004, VEJA’s timing was spot on, tapping into both 21st-century streetwear and trainer fans, as well as increasingly ethically-minded consumers. Along with vegan and sustainable leather options, VEJA uses a mix of ethically-sourced organic cotton for the linings and insoles of its trainers and wild Amazonian rubber for the soles.

As well as ensuring that its brand proposition is backed up by product and materials, VEJA has built a reputation for eschewing traditional advertising. Rather than buying pages in magazines or billboards, it believes in the power of “word-of-mouth and collective intelligence”.

On a platform like Instagram, VEJA’s strategy of brand recommendation and advocacy can be amplified. Whether that’s regramming fans who wear its trainers and providing detail on how those specific shoes were made or its ultra-responsive approach to queries and questions in comments, Instagram allows VEJA to place itself at the heart of audience conversations and posts. In turn, this emphasises the brand’s core values around transparency.

When it comes to ethical fashion, this approach is a natural fit for VEJA’s target customer – Gen Y urbanites living in major world cities such as London, New York or Paris. Choosing to show rather than shout, VEJA appeals to this digital-savvy cohort by harnessing both the visual simplicity of Instagram, as well as its organic community-building aspects. By giving focus to the quality of its footwear and allowing its ethical messaging to be discovered through these posts on Instagram, fashion shoppers and fans can feel that their connection with the brand is authentically won.

This strategy has proved highly successful, with Lyst’s fashion report for 2018 naming VEJA as the ‘Insta Brand We Want to Wear’. And people are responding, with Instagram searches for VEJA increasing a mammoth 113% year-on-year. The win resonates with the brand's ethos of building organically, with the company growing to 110 staff members across its operations in France and Brazil, coupled with 1,500 points of sale across 45 countries.

Slow, simple and sustainable, VEJA is a case study in how substance can speak for itself.

People come to Instagram to be inspired and expect brands to share their values. Businesses can build a genuine connection with fashion shoppers by ensuring their messaging is as clear as possible and using the right tools on the platform:

Download our report, Fashion Forward, to discover key trends infashion and see how brands are connecting with audiences on Instagram.