BY MISTY MILIOTO
Kay Sides is slowly demonstrating that conscious design is more than just cool in a world where sustainability has become a buzzword. Sides has spent the past seven years creating shoes that easily transition from surf to city while minimising economic impact as the founder and creative director of R0AM, a Los Angeles-based footwear brand.
Sustainability is not a marketing strategy for Sides, an Asian American and Pacific Islander ( AAPI ) female entrepreneur who has created brands like Yohji Yamamoto’s and Alexander McQueen’s McQ. It is a way of life.
” For me, sustainability has always been a way of living, not something I preach,” she says. Sustainability exists on a spectrum unless someone is really living off-grid, completely solar-powered, growing all of their own food, and capturing all of their own water. Because I live in a modern world, I make less dangerous choices every day.
These choices go much beyond her brand every day. Sides keeps a plastic-free home, composts regularly, and gets wild-caught fish and healthy eggs from nearby, little farmers. She makes sure that no animal testing or animal products are used in the clothing or beauty products she uses.
Sides ‘ path to becoming a footwear entrepreneur was anything but linear. She spent 95 % of her childhood outdoors, having been born and raised onO’ahu. This connection to nature is what drives her design philosophy today. Her background as a former ballerina and recent surfer and boxer gives her a unique perspective on what bodies in motion actually need.
” I’m very thankful to have lived a life that is rooted in movement, the outdoors, and being in motion,” says Sides. Because of that, I have a lot of trouble finding comfort, balance, and support.
One of R0AM’s distinguishing qualities was the customer-molded footbeds, which deliver what Sides describes as an “astonishing amount of squish” while also supporting the foot in all the appropriate places.
I need shoes that I can walk miles in without having my feet or again hurt at the end of the day because I travel frequently for both work and for fun, she says. Every design decision I make is influenced by that lived experience.
R0AM was the catalyst for launching it because of a real market gap. ” I was looking for footwear that felt elegant, really comfortable, casual still cool, and deliberately made,” says Sides,” and something that could really keep up with me and my friends and the many different ways we move through our days.” ” I didn’t find anything that checked all of those boxes, but I made the decision to create it.”
The use of algae-based BLOOM foam, a material Sides pursued for years before finding the correct manufacturing partner, is at the heart of R0AM’s sustainability story.
She claims that “algae technology is incredible.” One of the fastest-growing plants on Earth, it is a clean resource that can double in size in 24 hours. It doesn’t require deforestation, uses harmful chemicals, and [its use ] actually helps restore ecosystems because excessive algae in waterways is harmful to the environment. It’s a really round piece of material.
Algae foam is only one component of R0AM’s commitment to the environment. The brand uses vegan products from the market throughout its whole line, ensuring that no animals are injured during any stage of the production process. All packaging is effectively produced and completely recyclable. Additionally, the brand’s materials include sugarcane-derived, high-flex BIO EVA tread outsoles and recycled rubber tread on the soles.
Sides has continued to create new silhouettes while R0AM’s signature Lumpy Sandal, which was created more than seven years ago when nothing like it existed, laid the groundwork. The Foldy and the Cloud are considered to be bestsellers and show how the company has grown.
Sides most recently released The Slip, which was inspired by Hawaiian” slippah” culture and her deep connection to her birthplace. Hawaii is and will always be her country, she says. ” I however live my life outdoors as much as I can, and that has a significant impact on how I approach comfort, versatility, and conscious design are handled.”
R0AM is significant to point out that it does not define itself as a professional performance shoe. Sides says that finding a shoe that is both versatile, durable, and sympathetic enough to move through actual life — from outdoors to city settings— while also feeling elevated and purposeful in design. It’s about living a life of performance, no athletics.
Sides lights up when discussing the future season, and as for what’s coming next. She says,” I’m very excited about Spring and Summer.” My team and I are previously obsessed with the new designs that we have coming. I’m a true sunshine girl; in warmer months, I bloom better, and that energy often appears in our collections.
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