Mismatched espadrilles featuring works by young artists, all made with apple leather.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
innovation
This is the concept created by the Quebec company Scoloco, which, after launching its first collection last year, is doing it again this year with a brand new line.
Who ?
Scoloco is first and foremost Brigitte Dionne. Hired in 2018 by Collège Sainte-Anne, in Lachine, to give an introductory course in entrepreneurship, Ms.me Dionne decides to get out of theory to dive into practice by starting her own business, in class, with the students.
“I looked at them, and they all had similar sneakers, all made in China,” she says on the phone. This uniformity then gave him the idea of creating mismatched shoes made of a material other than animal leather. The students then accompanied her in each step of the creation of Scoloco. “I have integrated all the values of sustainable development. I wanted to make them responsible entrepreneurs. The idea was to position ourselves to promote difference in all its forms. We wanted to create an openness to difference. »
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Fabienne (left) and Brigitte Dionne
“We had to take a niche in the field, because there are people in the sneaker industry. We are the only ones in North America,” she adds proudly.
While researching, they first discover pineapple leather, called Piñatex, a fabric created from pineapple leaves. Then, they find a company in Portugal to manufacture the sneakers. However, things do not go as planned. “It turned into a nightmare, recalls Brigitte Dionne. We received our prototypes, and they were awful, of poor quality. »
The teacher-entrepreneur lost all the money invested in the production. Mme Dionne still decided to roll up her sleeves and start over. She made the choice to no longer teach to devote herself fully to her business. Her sister also associated with her. The duo then discovered apple leather, a fabric created in northern Italy with what remains of the fruit once the juice has been made.
She also returns to Portugal, where she finds a manufacturer of high-end sneakers. “We couldn’t find a manufacturer in Quebec, unfortunately. It would have been our first choice. »
Scoloco finally launched its first collection online last year. Nearly 800 pairs were sold. A second collection will be available within a week on the company’s website. Scoloco’s sneakers retail for $249 to $345 a pair.
“As soon as you are eco-responsible and don’t have your sneakers made in China, the production cost is high,” explains Brigitte Dionne. We want to keep a profit. »
Scoloco also donates a portion of the money generated by the sales to the artists whose works appear on the shoes as well as to two organizations: Autisme Montréal and Centre-Refuge Nymous, a wildlife reserve.
The future
With this second collection, the founder of the company, who currently only has two employees, wants to double the number of pairs sold compared to the first.
Possibly, M.me Dionne, who still works from her home in Saint-Sauveur, plans to move towards the corporate market by selling her shoes in particular to schools or to groups of workers such as nurses. “We want to create a movement where people will proudly wear Scoloco. »