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Here’s how Allbirds UK works with Soles4Souls to extend the life of footwear, and get it to the people who need it most.
Allbirds is a global B Corp footwear brand, founded in 2015 with a mission to make better things in a better way. Guided by a commitment to lower-impact materials, Allbirds favours natural, recycled and low-carbon components such as Merino wool, tree fibre and sugarcane over petroleum-based synthetics. Known for their comfort, versatile design and sustainability, Allbirds are proving that consumers don’t have to compromise one for the other.
At Soles4Souls, we launched a partnership with Allbirds in 2016, brought together by a shared commitment to giving goods a second life and people a second chance. Through the brand’s generous product donations, we’ve helped create opportunity for thousands of people worldwide through shoes and clothing.
Recently, we sat down with Stef Elliott, UK Senior Supply Chain Manager at Allbirds, to discuss our partnership. We reflected on the success of the project so far and, importantly, explored what other brands can learn from embedding sustainability and social impact into their operations, too.
Allbirds x Soles4Souls: A practical model for circularity at scale
For Allbirds, choosing Soles4Souls as its circularity partner was a natural fit.
“Allbirds has worked with Soles4Souls for many years to extend the life of our gently worn shoes,” Stef explains. “In the UK, a partnership like this is ideal because it offers us global outreach and we can support those in need. Plus, Soles4Souls is very easy to work with; the donation process is always very smooth.”
Day to day, the partnership remains practical and consistent. According to Stef, “we usually donate between one and two large shipments of both used and new footwear per year from our warehouse. Meanwhile, our two London stores collect donated shoes of any brand from customers and send these via parcel to Soles4Souls on a bi-monthly basis.”
Integrating the partnership became even simpler, says Stef, when Soles4Souls launched its UK warehouse in 2023. Alongside smoother distribution, this proximity helps Allbirds schedule regular check-ins with Soles4Souls’s international business development team, ensuring alignment and allowing both sides to share updates and ideas.
That ease of collaboration has been critical, particularly as brands move from talking about circularity to actually implementing it. As Stef points out, circular thinking “has been part of the Allbirds business from its early stages.” Embedding these practices early made it easier to scale impact as the company grew.
One of the most surprising elements of the partnership, Stef notes, was that “Soles4Souls accepts donations of gently used products, as well as new.” This flexibility has allowed Allbirds to address multiple challenges at once: reducing waste, managing excess inventory and ensuring products reach people who need them most.
The positive impact is felt on both sides of the company’s priorities. From a business perspective, Stef says the partnership helps Allbirds “manage excess inventory more easily and efficiently”. And in terms of positive social impact, it reassures stakeholders that “the donated products will go to a good home and make a difference.”
For other brands considering a similar collaboration, Stef’s advice is simple: “It’s a meaningful way to make a big difference, with the Soles4Souls team guiding every step to make donating simple and seamless.” In an industry searching for more responsible ways forward, partnerships like this show that sustainable social impact is practical, scalable and deeply worthwhile.
Are you ready to join Allbirds in leading circularity across the fashion industry, and make real progress on your environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals? Please email [email protected] to discuss a Soles4Souls partnership today.
