The Black Ghosts can come to life! Thank you to everyone for supporting this important project.
It's really exciting to pioneer this world's first ever production run of plant-based shoes coloured using natural plant-based dyes. This is a big step forward for sustainability in the footwear industry, showing others that there's an elegant solution to the problems caused by the waste from 24 billion synthetic and polluting shoes made each year.
Production Updates Archive.
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Update 3: New Sole Improvements
We're thrilled to be able to announce a major improvement to your new Orba Black Ghosts! Last November our rubber scientists delivered a new bio-rubber formulation for the soles, reducing the time for the sole material (once shredded) to "leave no trace”, meaning it can biodegrade or compost in an expected 2-4 years (in the right microbial environment).
This improves on the ten years (once shredded) expectation for the current compound, without compromising comfort and durability, while keeping the beautiful appearance of the shoe. This innovation brings us closer to our mission of solving the waste from 24 billion pairs of synthetic shoes made each year.
We needed the six months after we first saw the new compound to complete the many physical and chemical tests to prove that it's good enough for your shoes, and to maintain (or improve) our 96%+ customer satisfaction level.
Thanks pre-ordering your Black Ghosts, and for your patience during this process. We will keep you updated more regularly on our progress.
Update 2: Tell us your size.
23/04/24
Click on your reward to fill in the shoe size form.
1x pair black - off-white Ghosts.
Update 1: 112% Funded.
19/04/24
Thank-you to all those who pledged to the Orba Black Ghost campaign. We achieved our target and even exceeded it by 15%. We are bvery grateful to all our Pledgers.
We will be in touch next week to update you on next steps, confirm your Reward selections and all necessary details and how we will gather your shoes sizes.
We are very excited about getting the new range underway and getting your shoes to you.
Thank you again and look out for an email with all the details.
The Orba Team
Production Phases.
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1. Materials Review
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2. Yarn Making
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3. Weaving
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4. Dying
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5. Rubber Compound
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6. Assembly
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7. Ocean Freight
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8. Dispatch
Pre-order your Black Ghosts today.
We've raised the funds to make and release our first Orba Black Ghosts, but you can still pre-order. Be one of the first people in the world to own a pair of the new Orba Black Ghosts - and you’ll get some great discounts too.
The vast scale of shoe waste.
Orba shoes were born out of the need to make a change for good.
Every year the global fashion industry produces over 24 billion shoes that use synthetics, with little regard for the sustainability of the materials sourced, the wellbeing of the people involved or how these products will impact the environment after disposal.
Shoes can last in landfill for up to 1,000 years and are responsible for creating pollution over their entire lifecycle. 85% of people surveyed take action to reduce waste and we believe this is a problem that we can solve together.