[BC Trips] Research Journal #9 - Quimper

We left Italy and went back to Paris, France. From there, we moved to Quimper by train, which is about 3 hours and a half from Paris. Quimper is a city in Brittany, northwest France. It is a beautiful city and the compact cityscape is comforting; time seems to be flowing slowly which was very refreshing. The reason for our visit was to meet with a shoes maker called RIVALIN.

RIVALIN was born in 1925 in Quimper and almost 100 years have passed since its founding. They continue to make classic style sabots and slippers with machines and techniques inherited from the past. Now it is run by the fourth generation who is also very keen on collaboration with domestic and overseas brands through a new approach that combines classic and trend while continuing to preserve tradition. We loved the homely atmosphere which resembled family owned businesses in downtown Tokyo.

The room shoes and sabot made here were wonderful; we are also very thankful to their hospitality as they let us watch how the shoes are made through a fabulous guided tour. Everything they do at the company had sustainability in mind. Once the tour was over, they took us to seaside, saying that we cannot leave Quimper without visiting the beautiful seaside! We are working with RIVALIN and will be launching some of there products on our online store. Stay tuned for that!

And that is the end of our research tour through Europe! I hope you were able get some understanding of sustainability in Europe. Next research journal will be about our visit in Taiwan!