FEIT's Tull Price on the Promise and Limits of Sustainable Footwear

The Stitchdown Shoecast

Over a decade ago, Tull Price's job was to travel to the world's coolest cities to expand his massively successful sneaker brand, Royal Elastics. Sounds pretty great, right?
Nope! The realities of the forces of globalization—and just how much landfilled-destined plastic waste the athletic footwear industry created—eventually became all too apparent. Tull sold his stake in Royal, and began traveling Europe and Asia with a different purpose: encamping in veg-tan tanneries and small workshops run by master shoemakers. To figure out a way to build footwear—and a brand—in a completely different way.
From that, FEIT was born—some of the most unique truly handmade shoes produced at a moderately industrial scale that exist in the world.
Tull doesn't hold anything back while chatting with Ben from Stitchdown.com as they roll through the life cycles of Tull's two brands, why he chooses to manufacture in China (maybe not the reasons you expect), what can drive sustainability in footwear (and what sustainability even truly means), how to evolve a brand that's committed to minimalism, and the ways micro-communities can sometimes have the largest positive impact of them all.
This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone, one of the best values in Goodyear welted footwear, period
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Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera