Walking In Style and Comfort
Growing up by comforting spaces like water breakers by Marine Parade, clandestine beach weekends at Cottlesloe, and clear waters around Koh Samui, the importance of practical footwear was a staple essential. These memories like the pleasant warmth of the sun on my olive skin are treasured memories of my childhood. Looking forward to the release of the sustainable sandals by Aplo and am very thankful to have come across their creations.
Each sandal is made from 4.8 PET plastic bottles, of which 95% of the entire process is recycled and sustainable. Their 3D knitting technology employed provides extreme production control. This ensures rapid prototyping and reduced overstock.
It is to my great joy to discover a design that is so practical and elegant at the same time.
Who is the founder?
Iacopo Capone-Doumas is a Greek, Italian ocean-loving surfing and sailing enthusiast. Iacopo’s love for design ignited his inspiration and curiosity to reinvent women’s flat sandals by perfecting the classic elegant Mediterranean flats to follow women across their daily life. Iacopo grew up in the coastline of Athens, Greece chasing wind and waves as a surf lover. His curiosity about life led him to travel the world and become immersed in cultures and their desires from a young age. After achieving his Bachelors of Marine Composites Technology in the U.K., he then moved to Milan to obtain his Master of Arts from a prestigious leading Italian design school, Domus Academy.
Iacopo Capone has developed and designed the first Greek footwear (sandals) made out of 95% recycled and natural materials to help the global problem of material waste. His sandals are made from high quality sustainable sandals coming from upcycled plastic with no harm to the environment. His vision is to create simple elegant and super comfortable sandals to be worn all day on all occasions while maintaining a positive environmental footprint.
Following his passion for art & design, Iacopo went on to work in Milan, New York City and Los Angeles, where he concentrated on design exhibitions and design consultancy.
Now Iacopo is the founder and creative mind behind Dear Ride and Aplo.
How did the idea come to be?
As a citizen of the World, Iacopo recalls a summertime in Malibu CA noticing women wearing Greek sandals that were compromised in design, quality and price. He then realised there was a gap in the market for sandal focused brands.
Iacopo also noticed that there was a huge global waste problem in the footwear industry that influenced his business vision to create a sustainable product. On average a pair of shoes creates 26kg CO2 emissions. Furthermore, 15 billion shoes are produced each year resulting in 3% of total greenhouse emissions. Every minute 1 million bottles are sold internationally 92% of them are not recycled.
For Iacopo, this realisation became a shoemaking idea and eventually, he incorporated attributes of simplicity and elegance in his designs. This awareness was when he developed an appreciation for a super comfortable with sustainable zero waste footwear brand.
For more information visit Aplo today!
Support them via Kickstarter.
