Can a 'Preppy' style choice help save the Planet?

Multiple pairs of loafers, face-down snaking bottom L to top R, black upcycled-tyre soles with herringbone tread, on white and grey marble.

In this SustMeme Guest Post, Benjie Davis, Co-Founder of luxury footwear brand Hugs & Co, explains the craft and spec behind sustainable shoes and offers style tips for shoppers, as he pitches how ‘Preppy’ can help save the Planet!

BD: High wardrobe-trend turnover and the corrosive effects of planned obsolescence in fashion need no long-winded introduction. Ever since the Industrial Revolution gave humanity the taste for fast-produced and even faster-lived products, there has been a race to serve up ever more cheaply produced garments.

On top of that, manufacturers seek to deliver even quicker trend changes to ensure that any products not already expired still get thrown out in an act of ‘out with the old, in with the new’ fashion worship.

So where does that leave us? Do we give in to vanity and just jump when the trendsetters say jump?

Should we simply turn a blind eye to the effects of fast fashion? Surely there is a better answer.

Well, as a footwear-industry entrepreneur, I naturally have some suggestions to make for when you next need new shoes; and perhaps I can convince you to adopt a whole style-genre in the name of sustainability.

Lifespan problem with plastic trainers

So, let’s begin with some inner reflection. What style of shoes have you bought the most, and, more importantly, binned the most? The likely answer is trainers (sneakers).

Sadly the most popular style of shoe, trainers, makes up the largest market segment of the 22-24 billion pairs of shoes produced annually; and they are also the most harmfully produced.

A trainer-style shoe could be made of up to 65 different materials, largely all petroleum-based plastic and, in the interests of speed and low cost, typically glued and fused together.

In fairness, this is an issue that several big brands have tried to address. However, substitute materials are often just more plastic, albeit sourced from recycling. Worse still, some opt for poor-quality substitutes that reduce the lifespan of the shoes even further, exacerbating the impact of planned obsolescence.

In fact, despite their best efforts, manufacturers of sporty style trainers have so far not managed to extend the lifespan of their products beyond 300-500 miles of walking, which equates to about 6-18 months of wearable life. This is a problem for sustainability, resource use, and the circular economy.

The good news is that product lifespan is one problem we can solve with some conscious consumer choices.

Preppy to save the Planet

Multiple pairs suede loafers in brown, blue, grey and black Hugs & Co branding visible in tan-coloured inner soles, all on white and grey marble.

Full disclosure regarding what I write next: I am an advocate of traditional, timeless style.

I champion the heritage style that Americans might call ‘Preppy’, ‘Ivy League’, or ‘East Coast Prep’; the British may describe it as ‘Sloany’. All agree it is traditional, timeless and tailored.

I enjoy the aesthetic and the brands I have developed over the last few decades have all drawn on my personal style. That said, I do appreciate the whole spectrum of alternative choices, and everyone should be able to dress in whatever style makes them feel comfortable and personally expressed.

However… I can’t help but notice that being a Preppy might just help save the Planet. Hear me out…

Heritage style for good

In my opinion, and in ascending order, deck shoes, casual loafers and Goodyear welted loafers offer the most satisfactory mix of material selection, responsible manufacture and total product lifespan.

These three styles are the footwear cornerstones of the timeless style worn by the Preppy dresser, with no sign of a shiny new pair of trainers. So, here is why I’m proposing we all turn to heritage style for good.

Both deck shoes and casual loafers are made with leather uppers – and the longevity of leather far surpasses the petroleum-based plastic materials found in your favourite trainers.

Understandably, there are plenty of concerns around the environmental impacts of leather production, so look for brands using leathers audited to a Gold Standard by the Leather Working Group (LWG).

LWG standards ensure the leather you are wearing has scored over 85% when its production was scrutinised by the group for water and energy efficiency, effluent treatment, chemical-use reduction and supply chain traceability, among a host of other categories.

With a score like this, the leather is almost certainly vegetable tanned which avoids the use of heavy metals.

Armed with this information you can make an informed decision – buying a pair of shoes that you already know will last five times as long as a pair of trainers, plus employ a more sustainable choice of materials.

Hand stitching and craft construction

As regards construction, the deck shoe and loafers, such as driving shoes, are both made using a technique known as ‘moccasin glove’. For shoppers, the tell-tale sign this is being done properly will be in the product description where the maker mentions ‘hand stitching’.

This specification shows the shoes you are about to buy have functional long-lasting stitching rather than glued components. Hand stitching means you are guaranteed a low-energy process, natural fibres and a robust construction – staving off the threat of early planned obsolescence.

What’s more, you are buying a shoe that has been made by a person, who has been trained to do a craft job that AI can’t replace. And that is a very 2026 conscious decision to make.

On top of all that, I can offer a pro tip: Check the sole!

Good deck shoes and loafers will have a natural rubber sole. The driving loafers we make at Hugs & Co have a sole made with upcycled car tyres.

End-of-life car tyres pile up faster and faster each year, sped up by two factors: Vehicle numbers and weight.

The sheer number of cars on the road is rising and electric vehicles (EVs) form an increasing proportion. EVs tend to wear out tyres faster due to their considerable weight compared with combustion-engine models.

At Hugs & Co, we repurpose this tyre material, cross-pollinate it with LWG Gold Standard leather and the hand-stitching techniques to create one of the most sustainable shoes you can buy.

The leather will outlast plastic alternatives and comes with the best environmental credentials available. So, these loafers are made with a low-energy chemical-free and very human-orientated manufacturing process.

In addition, the soles will last many, many years ensuring obsolescence is not an issue for a very long time.

All great reasons in my opinion to ditch the plastic running shoes and slip into a life of guilt-free loafers!

Goodyear welted for wear and repair

There is one further rung up the ladder for the sustainable sartorialist to explore: Goodyear welted loafers.

These are also produced by Hugs & Co, as well as a number of other household names like Churches, Crocket & Jones, Edward Green and Loake, all of whom champion this technique.

In terms of sustainability, these shoes are up for the gold medal before running shoes even join the race.

When you buy a pair of Goodyear welted loafers you can expect a minimum of 15 years of use out of this one single product – imagine getting that from your trainers?

Goodyear welted shoes are required to use only the best leathers due to their complicated construction – and so they necessarily steer away from poorly manufactured product leaving a costly footprint.

They are artisanal to the uttermost degree with around 70 hand processes required during construction. The shoemakers are people with honed skills that can’t be replaced or circumvented for cost cutting.

And finally, these shoes can be resoled an unlimited number of times. Meaning a pair of Goodyear loafers could become an heirloom, or be found by the more savvy in a vintage shop at a bargain.

And when you take your Goodyear welted loafers to be resoled further good is done.

Not only do you reduce your waste by not throwing out your shoes, but you support the cobbling industry, the original repair cafés. This valuable strata of the small business community supports craft workers, plus it offers apprenticeships and training schemes for young people and school leavers.

Heritage style to help save the Planet!

And so we come to my final argument as to why we should all embrace the heritage aesthetic and never buy a running shoe again (save for legitimate use in sport): All these shoes and many of the items of tailoring associated with the look can be repurposed, regifted, re-owned and reworn.

A tweed jacket made in the 1980s when America loved the East Coast country-club aesthetic can be found in a vintage shop today, its stitching intact, its character enhanced through wear.

Most importantly, when you put it on you know the footprint of this item of clothing you just acquired is negligible compared to the fast-fashion garments being peddled by influencers today.

In fact, it could be argued that an Ivy League heritage-inspired or traditional British style of dressing is the look that most embraces the hand-me-down item and the vintage-shop garment. It celebrates a recycled item even more that a new one, applying value to a garment with a history or a story behind it.

The circularity of the heritage aesthetic becomes a self-perpetuating cycle of low-waste and reuse.

Well-made leather loafers are seldom found in landfill, lost amongst the mountains of ethylene-vinyl acetate, thermoplastic polyurethane, polyester mesh, or synthetic trainers that go there in their billions every year.

So, my pitch to the conscious consumer is this: Consider a style choice that is kind to the Planet; think slow fashion, timelessness and tradition; just avoid vintage corduroys and suede loafers when you visit the gym!

Portrait of Benjie Davis stood outside in open-necked blue shirt, holding fabric banner for Hugs & Co. London, in white type on navy.

Benjie Davis is a British entrepreneur and designer working in the fashion industry and an advocate of a pragmatic approach to sustainable fashion. He trained as an Architect and fine artist before co founding the London-based brand Hugs & Co. alongside his brother Hugo in 2012. The brand specialises in luxury footwear with sustainable credentials. They work with bodies such as the Leather Working Group (LWG), Svensk Däckåtervinning and Bon Orbit design space in Sweden.

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