What Sessile is known for
French sneaker brand from Angers, launched via a 2019 Ulule crowdfunding campaign (501 pairs sold, beating a 300-pair goal); made at La Manufacture 49, an Angers shoe workshop since 1927, led by Jean-Olivier Michaux. Repairable, part-recycled — about a third the carbon footprint of an imported leather sneaker.
Sessile is made at La Manufacture 49, a shoe-manufacturing workshop in the Mauges area near Angers, in France's Pays de la Loire region, that has operated since 1927. Jean-Olivier Michaux, who has led the roughly 7,500-square-metre site, set out to develop the brand as a way of applying the workshop's existing shoemaking skills to a repairable, part-recycled sneaker rather than a disposable one. The name comes from the sessile oak, a species that regenerates readily, chosen to reflect the brand's environmental framing.
Sessile launched publicly through a 2019 crowdfunding campaign on the French platform Ulule, aiming to sell 300 pairs to fund the first production run; the campaign sold 501. The sneaker is built so that components — including the sole — can be removed and replaced rather than the whole shoe discarded: customers can send worn pairs back to be restored, or have them taken apart so materials can be recovered and reused.
Sessile's own published figures put the carbon footprint of a pair at about 3.8 kg CO2, compared with an estimated 12–13 kg CO2 for a comparable leather sneaker imported from Southeast Asia.
Best for — Repairable circular sneakers made in Angers
Where next
- Bleu de Chauffe — Paris
- One Step — France
- Chatelles — Paris
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