Founded in 2016 by Rowland Asfales, Pijakbumi has become an Indonesian local brand that attempts to adopt the concept of closed-loop fashion and environmentally-friendly in footwear industry.
Long story short, Asfales met some shoe craftsmen who lived in such poor living conditions around the Cibaduyut area—they work, they eat, and they also sleep in the same room contaminated with the unpleasant smell of chemical adhesives. Meanwhile, the rise of Indonesia’s middle-class are also potentially consuming 17,680,000 sneakers in 2020. If the unethical production and consumption are still going on, it will lead us to water scarcity and land erosion in 2040.
Asfales then came up with an idea to create better shoes in more eco-responsible way. He wanted to promote the beauty of local high craftsmanship with proper attention to reducing harmful impacts on workers and the environment.
Thereafter, in April 2016, Asfales established his footwear brand namely Pijakbumi. The name itself refers to the philosophy of Earthing which is believed as one of the most healing remedies nature has to offer—in hopes that Pijakbumi will make people feel more connected to Mother Earth.
Along the process, Pijakbumi offers solutions to create casual-daily footwear with good design, fairly-priced, and ethical approaches. Through their brand-driven storytelling and social environment campaign, they empower society to implement eco-responsible production and consumption. Their solutions can be applied starting from reducing water use in material processing and manufacturing, reducing the use of hazardous chemicals, and implementing waste management and post-consumer programms through the 3R process ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’.
For 4,5 years since the inception, Pijakbumi has been working in partnership with material researchers to develop biodegradable and plant-based materials. Presently, they are aiming to optimize the eco-benefits they offer by implementing mass-customization manufacturing strategy, post-consumer programme, and carbon-offset campaign.
These collaborative sustainable design programmes will enable their consumers to directly contribute to sustainability; starting from selecting sustainable material, designs, colors and recycling options. As a result, both Pijakbumi and their consumers will be going hand-in-hand to create eco-responsible products and measure the impact to our environment.
The Brief History of Pijakbumi
Ecological Materials :
In 2016, their products were made out of only one eco-material namely vegetable-tanned leather (animal leather). For the time being, 90% of their shoe components are made of plant-based materials.
In partnership with their material researchers, Pijakbumi is developing product designs using : Kenaf Fibers, Ramie, Water Hyacinth, Natural Raw Rubber, Recycled Cotton, Nyamu Wooden Leather, and TENCEL™ Modal and they are currently looking for investment of $250,000 for Angel round.
Tractions :
2016
Third Winner of The Big Start Indonesia
2017
Best Good Design Indonesia 2017
2018
Finalist at G-Mark Japan & Amazon Tokyo Fashion Week 2018
2019
5 Top Global Insta-preneur Instagram Academy 2019
Representative of Indonesia Sustainable Local Brand in Project Tokyo, Japan
2020
12 Global Emerging Footwear Designer at Micam Milano, Italy
Started to broaden their market to Japan and Switzerland
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