We have been making children’s shoes since 2003! It all started at a Christmas market in Berlin-Zehlendorf. With small crawling shoes. In the meantime our collection has grown a lot! From barefoot shoes, to kindergarten shoes, winter shoes, sandals to an ever-growing vegan collection.
POLOLO production and distribution
The production of the ecological POLOLO children’s shoes for indoors and outdoors takes place at our partner manufactory in Spain.
Sales and management are controlled in Berlin by Franziska Kuntze and her office team. POLOLOs are offered through specialist retailers and we think that direct advice and direct contact are the best thing when buying shoes. That’s why POLOLO also has its own ShowRoom in Berlin-Zehlendorf. For those for whom a specialist shop is no longer within reach, there is the POLOLO webshop.
Sales and management are controlled in Berlin by Franziska Kuntze and her office team. POLOLOs are offered through specialist retailers and we think that direct advice and direct contact are the best thing when buying shoes. That’s why POLOLO also has its own ShowRoom in Berlin-Zehlendorf. For those for whom a specialist shop is no longer within reach, there is the POLOLO webshop.
Committed to sustainability
POLOLO’s ecological standards go further than the prescribed legal regulations:
Health and ecology, but also nature conservation and social fairness are always the focus at POLOLO! Every children’s shoe is made with love for quality, people and the environment. “We hold on to the fact that there is always a way to see and design things differently. Maximisation is by far not everything – we have a great responsibility towards the environment and future generations,” emphasises founder and managing director Franziska Kuntze. That’s why she is also very involved on a voluntary basis and actively shapes the global ecological and social standards for clothing on the board of the International Association for Natural Textiles (IVN) – since 2018 she has also been its chairperson.
Health and ecology, but also nature conservation and social fairness are always the focus at POLOLO! Every children’s shoe is made with love for quality, people and the environment. “We hold on to the fact that there is always a way to see and design things differently. Maximisation is by far not everything – we have a great responsibility towards the environment and future generations,” emphasises founder and managing director Franziska Kuntze. That’s why she is also very involved on a voluntary basis and actively shapes the global ecological and social standards for clothing on the board of the International Association for Natural Textiles (IVN) – since 2018 she has also been its chairperson.
Healthy feet
There are basically two criteria that should be taken into account when buying shoes: The fit and the material!
Children’s feet are little marvels: They are wonderfully soft, because the bones of the feet are still developing slowly, and children’s feet are much more flexible than their parents’ feet. However, this also means that the slightest pressure – triggered, for example, by shoes that do not fit or materials that are too hard and too little room to move – can be unfavourable for foot development. POLOLO works on the further development of the collection in constant exchange with children’s foot experts and physiotherapists. In addition, POLOLO consistently ensures that only sustainable materials are used, i.e. soft, natural, certified, ecological materials or recycled materials: Vegetable-tanned, uncoated natural leather, cotton (organic quality / coc), wool (organic quality / coh) and vegan leather alternatives (obtained from prickly pear leaves) as well as upcycled marine plastic (SEAQUAL ® YARN).
Children’s feet are little marvels: They are wonderfully soft, because the bones of the feet are still developing slowly, and children’s feet are much more flexible than their parents’ feet. However, this also means that the slightest pressure – triggered, for example, by shoes that do not fit or materials that are too hard and too little room to move – can be unfavourable for foot development. POLOLO works on the further development of the collection in constant exchange with children’s foot experts and physiotherapists. In addition, POLOLO consistently ensures that only sustainable materials are used, i.e. soft, natural, certified, ecological materials or recycled materials: Vegetable-tanned, uncoated natural leather, cotton (organic quality / coc), wool (organic quality / coh) and vegan leather alternatives (obtained from prickly pear leaves) as well as upcycled marine plastic (SEAQUAL ® YARN).
POLOLO relies primarily on vegetable-tanned natural leather
If you are looking for only the best for people, the environment and health, you should rely on ecological raw materials that have been known for thousands of years when manufacturing children’s shoes: Tanning leathers based on plant raw materials such as barks, woods, pods, leaves or roots has been the tried and tested process for many generations. Worldwide, about 300 different plant species are used for tanning. POLOLO mainly uses natural leather tanned with Valonea – a wild growing oak species in Mediterranean countries. Such leathers are characterised by their strength and toughness as well as their allergy-friendliness.
For many consumers, it is becoming increasingly important to buy fair and ecological clothing. They do in fact care where the products they use in their daily lives come from and what they wear on their skin. However, especially for leather processing, heavy metals (chromium is the most common) are unfortunately often used as tanning agents, which can also pollute health and the environment.
POLOLO therefore only uses vegetable-tanned leather from Germany. We set the highest ecological and quality standards for our raw materials. Transparency and traceability of the supply chain are also important to us.
POLOLO Barefoot shoes
Children’s feet are constantly in action – their whole musculature is always in motion, and that’s how it should be, because they train their body awareness to grow up healthy. By the way, little ones should walk around barefoot as much as possible – and if the ground and weather don’t allow it, then they should wear POLOLOs, which nestle around their feet like a “second skin”, warming and protecting them.
POLOLO’s “Barefoot” collection has been designed for outdoors as well as for the special requirements in the kindergarten with a TPR sole and as a pure slipper with a leather sole. The area at the big toe is cut straight and thus offers plenty of free space for the toes. The barefoot POLOLOs are made with love for craftsmanship from certified vegetable-tanned natural leather; this is tested for harmful substances and allergies.
- With TPR sole for outdoor and kindergarten use
- and with leather sole for indoor use.
- Sizes 20-34.
- Natural vegetable tanned leather.
- Wide toe clearance.
- Developed with children’s foot experts.
- Styles: “Ballerina”, “Cordel”, “Elastico”, “Linda”, “Summer”, “Uni” and “Wool”.
Vegan shoes made of organic cotton (coc)
Cotton is a wonderful material, especially when produced organically: It has a refreshing effect, is particularly kind to the skin and does not scratch. POLOLO likes to use cotton (organic quality / coc) as an alternative to leather for summer sneakers. Cotton is also particularly elastic and light on the foot. Like leather, it is very breathable and also has good absorbency – so cotton shoes are ideal for children’s feet, especially for the summer months.
POLOLO attaches great importance to the fact that the cotton comes from controlled organic cultivation. This is because monocultures are avoided and synthetic pesticides and fertilisers are deliberately avoided – as an alternative, plant-based agents and humus are used. In organic cultivation, about 30 % rain-fed agriculture is used to avoid additional irrigation (the undamaged soil stores much more water).
- 100 % cotton (organic quality / coc).
- Ban on genetic engineering.
- No synthetic pesticides.
- Optimised water consumption.
- High social standards / fair wages.
- Preservation of ecological balance.
- Health-friendly colours.
- Washable at 30°C wool wash cycle.
Vegan textile shoes made from upcycled marine plastic (SEAQUAL ® YARN)
Your steps for a clean ocean!
The SEAQUAL INITIATIVE has inspired POLOLO to create a colourful children’s shoe collection made from upcycled marine plastics.
Every year, unfortunately, many millions of tons of waste still end up in our oceans, even though we all know that this poses a great danger to our environment!
Through the SEAQUAL INITIATIVE, plastic waste is collected from the seabed off the Spanish coast by around 400 partner fishermen and then processed into SEAQUAL ® YARN. Each kilogramme of SEAQUAL ® YARN produced corresponds to one kilogramme of waste. In this way, the sea is cleaned and at the same time a valuable raw material is recycled.
The goal is a clean sea
The SEAQUAL INITIATIVE focuses on plastic waste from the seabed. Its network of partners starts with fishing boats and extends to spinning mills, weaving mills and brands (including POLOLO) that are committed to ridding the sea of waste and producing ecologically sound, high-quality yarns, fibres and fabrics.
The SEAQUAL ® YARN:
POLOLO does not otherwise use polyester, but the upcycling system and the quality of the fabrics were convincing: SEAQUAL® YARN has the same properties as fibres made from conventional polyester, but is far superior to them from an ecological point of view. It actively contributes to cleaning the oceans, reduces water and energy consumption and lowers CO2 emissions. Material traceability and certificates also assure the end consumer that by choosing a product made of SEAQUAL® YARN, the end of plastic pollution is supported in a sustainable way.
POLOLOs made of SEAQUAL ® YARN: Your steps for a clean ocean!
- “The SEAQUAL INITIATIVE is a unique collaborative community with a mission to tackle marine plastic pollution.”
- “The SEAQUAL INITIATIVE works with NGOs, fishermen, communities, governments, industries and brands to help clean our oceans from plastic waste.”
- POLOLO supports this initiative as it cooperates with ocean clean-up programmes worldwide to refine the removed plastic waste into valuable raw materials.
- Outer material: SEAQUAL ® YARN.
- Lining: 100 % cotton (organic quality / coc).
- Washable at 30°C wool wash cycle.
Vegan sneakers made from a cactus leather alternative
POLOLO is always looking for new ecological, modern solutions and materials for the production of beautiful and contemporary children’s shoes.
- For these shoes, the raw material is a cactus leather alternative.
- It is made from the leaves of the prickly pear cactus – which is not uprooted, but only renewable leaves are used for the production.
- The cultivation is controlled organic (coc).
- There is no extra irrigation and no use of pesticides.
- It does not contain any animal ingredients.
- No energy is used to dry the leaves – because the leaves dry in the sun.
- As the cactus material is quite robust, POLOLO has opted for a soft microfibre lining.
