Ideally, children’s feet should be measured every six weeks to ensure that the shoes still fit. According to Shoezone, a good thing to remember: “the younger the foot, the faster it grows.” Once you’ve given them a gentle wipe down, wait a day to ensure your shoes are fully dried out before you next leave the house in them. You can machine-wash the shoes, but it’s recommended to handwash them. If you insist on using a washing machine, make sure the water is cold or lukewarm and that you’re using a gentle detergent. Your child will likely wear their school shoes for longer than any other item of footwear, often upwards of 35 hours a week. Opting for a barefoot school shoe ensures that you don't restrict and compromise growing feet, which are vulnerable to external influences and moulding by tight, ill-fitting shoes.

Additionally, the range has been approved by the Vegan Society and PETA for its sustainable and cruelty-free materials. Though it’s true that children should have room to wiggle their toes, you should avoid buying shoes to ‘grow into’ because shoes too big can cause just as many problems as small ones.As with many choices, there seems to be no perfect ethical shoe; if you’re not choosing leather, you’re choosing plastic. However, there are companies who make products that allow you to follow your morals as closely as you can, so look for natural and recycled materials and products made by ethical companies. Should I just buy cheap ‘other materials” shoes from a supermarket? School shoes need to be comfortable and easy to fasten but also durable and survive a long school day. For instance, your child’s shoes need to endure those playground games, rainy days and lunchtime sports. Also, they need to be suitable for as long as they can be. A new vegan collection from this maker, these are made from both sustainable and recyclable materials. As part of our testing process we are really happy to say that our plant-based leather’s durability passed to the same industry standards as standard leather products. Whilst compared to traditional PU products, this upper material lasts four times longer.

Each foot can be different sizes and the difference in length can be up to half an inch, so we recommend using the longer foot as a guide to choosing the right shoe. This everyday vegan shoe is great for younger kids as they start to become more confident with walking and running.

Several of the big supermarkets have kids’ school ranges and shoes come as part of this and can be a great choice if you are buying to a budget. In general, vegan clothing isn’t that much different from normal clothing, except it’s made ethically without any animal products. For instance, vegan clothing would not allow fur, leather, silk, feathers, and some wool. Instead, it’s usually made from acrylic or other synthetic fibre. CFC EMISSIONS: Chlorofluorocarbon emissions are harmful to the ozone layer. Producing this material reduces these emissions by 32%*.