SoleRebels is an amazing footwear company founded in 2004 by company founder and managing director Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu in her community of Zenabwork, Ethiopia!
soleRebels began as an idea: that the creation of shoes could be a platform for inspiration hope. By crafting xtraCOOL footwear that gave the person wearing them immense comfort and joy, we create great employment opportunities RIGHT INSIDE OUR OWN COMMUNITY and giving the often ignored a chance to engage in creative endeavors.
Making the world a better place... one step at a time
From our inception we proudly employed and trained the highly marginalized or those thought unemployable. Together we set out to re-imagine the traditional Ethiopian "selate" and "barabasso" shoes (recycled car tire sole shoe pictured to the right) in dynamic + vibrant new fashions.
We aimed to create something that was authentically local but had a truly universal flavor to it and for the past few years we have that and more. All the while we never lose our focus on crafting our wares from the most eco-sensible materials available: a combination of recycled, organic and bio-based materials. Then we make shoes in the most energy efficient manner possible - with our talented hands.
Community Dedication
We believe in building power for our workers + OUR community - we have deep roots in Zenabwork, the community where we work. These are roots that span back three generations to our grandmother, one of the village's first residents and herself an impoverished rural migrant, migrating here to the environs of Addis Ababa in search of a better life. So every action we take is with the communities betterment in mind. So aside from creating a myriad of employment opportunities and always seeking to increase these, we ALWAYS challenge ourselves to do MORE + MORE + MORE. Like our artisan education fund which funds the education of our artisans' children and / or close relative children. This fund is accessible TWICE yearly. Like ALL OUR PROGRAMS it is flexible + demand driven. the workers decide on where to allocate money. The artisans education fund exemplifies this as everyone agreed that the best investment is the one we make in our children's educational needs. We could not agree more or be prouder!
The worlds 1st Fair Trade footwear company + FAIR TRADING since we began = everyone wins! We have always practiced fair trade principles since our founding. We are doubly proud that our FAIR TRADE practices are WFTO ACCREDITED [ ***WFTO being the ONLY certifier of FAIR TRADE companies ] the first footwear company in Ethiopia to be certified and one of the only ones in the world! And it's why our products are being sold in over 40 countries around the globe including the USA, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Portugal, Germany, Taiwan, Singapore, India and more being added every day. We happily reply to ANY questions you may have about our work at rootsculturetires@gmail.com ... better yet we invite everyone to come and visit us at our retail stores and experience soleRebels!
