LEAF Where you stand
 | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded 📆 | 2014 |
| Founders 👔 | |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
Area served 🗺️ | Worldwide |
Key people | E. S. Parsons Aubone (Chairman/Co-Founder)[1] Cinthia Fehling (Creative Director/Co-Founder)[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Antonio T. Parsons (Investor/Co-Founder)[9][10][11][12][13] Marcos Cavanagh (Investor/Co-Founder)[14] Juan F. Soutullo Torres (CEO/Co-Founder) Gabriela del Pilar Vizcaino (COO/Co-Founder) Vanesa Gianoli (Supply Chain Director/Co-Founder) |
| Products 📟 | Shoes, clothing, |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | [1] |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
LEAF where you stand (stylized as LEAF) is a social-minded apparel company born as a movement in 2014. The company was founded in 2014 by Ezequiel Santiago Parsons Aubone (stylized as E.S. Parsons), an entrepreneur from Argentina. The company designs and sells shoes based on the Argentine alpargata design, as well as skate shoes and sandals. For every sale made, TECHO,[15] an international humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization (NGO), is the primary financial beneficiary, working to overcome extreme poverty in slums.[16] In this way, LEAF projects its unique business model. This initiative, driven by a vocation for high product quality and social concern, naturally led to further improvement in the all-around concept of excellence, encompassing all echelons in the chain of production, marketing, and consumers. Following these concepts, LEAF believes in empowering the local economy by employing local artisans and crafters from developing countries,[17] rather than working with factories that use foreign slave labor or child labor. Including recycled rubber in soles, as LEAF is working on, will reduce the number of used tires discarded in landfills. Currently, LEAF works with local artisans to manufacture environmentally beneficial products,[18] starting with 100% recycled soles. LEAF's business model has been referred to as The Complete Quality Cycle.
Company history
In 2013, E.S. Parsons, while strolling in Buenos Aires, met a volunteer from Médecins Sans Frontières, one of the five most important NGOs, who asked for collaboration—a monthly donation to be charged through a credit card. This encounter made E.S. Parsons realize that many people wish to help humanitarian organizations but don't find the opportunity to do so in their daily activities.
Through friends volunteering with the TECHO NGO, he learned about the organization and the significant effort involved in fundraising.
As a friend of Alejo Nitti, founder of TOMS, he was familiar with that company's business model and the criticism it received from the International Development community.[19][20] Critics argued that TOMS' model was designed to make consumers feel good rather than addressing the underlying causes of poverty.[21] A 2014 paper in the Journal of Development Effectiveness studied the effect of TOMS Shoes on local shoe markets and found no statistically significant effect, although analysts and the paper's authors noted the study's limitations in scope and time-scale.[22][23][24] Handing out shoes in needy countries contributed to unemployment among shoemakers, as shoemaking is a basic craft. Considering these circumstances, he began developing a new business model, "The Complete Quality Cycle”.
In 2014, E.S. Parsons conceived LEAF, a movement seeking greater funds to support TECHO's social work. For every sale, TECHO is the primary financial beneficiary, working to overcome extreme poverty in slums. This launched LEAF's unique business model, the first echelon of "The Complete Quality Cycle". LEAF, a new generation apparel brand, aimed to partner fully with an NGO. This direct experience with the problem is the best way for young people to become committed to solving it. The project proposed a social-minded apparel company enhanced by the synergy of the worldwide prestigious TECHO, marketing high-quality casual footwear and clothing.
In May 2014, Cinthia Fehling joined as co-founder, responsible for embodying LEAF's social and brand image. Within months, the brand gained significant social media traction, with many expressing support for the concept.
In late 2015, an agreement was signed with TECHO.[25][26][27] TECHO provided LEAF with visibility and appeal, facilitating growth in the ABC1 market share. Through LEAF's “where you stand” initiative, consumers buy shoes and simultaneously support a noble cause. This allows TECHO to become “a truly sustainable NGO, rather than a charity dependent on fundraising for support”. These customers become lifelong advocates for social change. This initiative, driven by a commitment to high product quality and social concern, allowed E.S. Parsons to crystallize a new market model with the “Quality” concept reaching all echelons of the production, marketing, and consumer chains.
Following these concepts, LEAF[28] [29] emphasizes empowering local economies by employing local artisans and crafters instead of Asian factories. Using recycled rubber in soles will reduce the number of used tires in landfills. Currently, Juan F. Soutullo Torres (CEO), Gabriela del Pilar Vizcaino (COO), and Vanesa Gianoli (Supply Chain Director) have joined the founding team. This synergy promotes the implementation of the complete quality cycle under the LEAF Project, working with local artisans to manufacture environmentally beneficial products, starting with 100% recycled soles.
Business model
"The Complete Quality Cycle"[30][31][32]
The theory proposes a redefined approach to company creation, involving a win-win partnership with an NGO. For every unit sold, the NGO receives the primary financial benefit, with a smaller portion allocated to company and project growth. More than two-thirds of the markup is redirected to social assistance. This distribution ensures that needy people worldwide benefit from the business. Marketing studies show that buyers feel good knowing their purchase helps those in need.
The Complete Quality Cycle's theoretical market model encompasses a broader concept of quality. Envision a high-quality apparel brand, maintaining high standards throughout the value chain: manufacturing materials, well-paid labor, and satisfied customers. It integrates people and nature, believing that fighting poverty requires justice and equality. It helps families develop skills to reach their full potential, fostering small-scale artisan businesses and preserving the environment using recycled materials.
The theory advocates for companies organized with broader objectives, including an NGO that receives the primary financial benefit from each sale. This allows the NGO to become a truly sustainable organization, rather than a charity dependent on fundraising. The theoretical market model aims to eradicate poverty and improve industry-related environments. Each purchase is a step toward this goal, completing the cycle and enabling buyers to contribute to a noble cause without disrupting their daily routines. Buyers become committed to social change. The Complete Quality Cycle Video
In November 2016, The Complete Quality Cycle was nominated for the Sustainable Investment Awards 2016 in the Award for Innovation category, recognizing its innovation in improving or expanding the investment base of environmental, ethical, and social impact sectors.[33] The Complete Quality Cycle received a "Highly Commended" award for Innovation (Non-fund).[34]
References
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/today/posts/esparsons
- ↑ http://mininsta.net/MiniUserMedia/734687910
- ↑ http://www.imgrum.net/user/cinthiafdg/734687910
- ↑ https://foroalfa.org/cinthia-fehling
- ↑ https://www.behance.net/cinthiaaf
- ↑ https://www.xing.com/profile/Cinthia_Fehling
- ↑ https://www.revistatigris.com.ar/dando-pasos-juntos/
- ↑ https://de.linkedin.com/in/cinthiafehling/en
- ↑ http://www.hacer.org/latam/argentina-el-motor-de-la-economia-argentina-por-valeriano-f-garcia/
- ↑ https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=PhuU5gulX5AC&pg=PT42&lpg=PT42&dq=Antonio+Tomas+Parsons&source=bl&ots=tZzkPe1Hpi&sig=UuLImNpSGMCygg2ZTbm8NspMWKs&hl=es&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwimyJeQlrjQAhXDHZAKHa5hAbUQ6AEISTAJ#v=onepage&q=Antonio%20Tomas%20Parsons&f=false
- ↑ http://www.lanacion.com.ar/642830-consultores-argentinos-iran-a-africa-para-ayudar-a-producir
- ↑ http://mercadoasegurador.com.ar/backup/adetail.asp?id=2029
- ↑ https://ar.linkedin.com/in/antonio-t-parsons-91737112/en
- ↑ https://ar.linkedin.com/in/marcoscav/en
- ↑ http://www.techo.org/paises/argentina/informate/leaf-presenta-su-nueva-linea-de-zapatillas-y-reafirma-su-compromiso-con-techo
- ↑ "TECHO MISSION-VISION/VALUES". Retrieved 2016-08-17.
- ↑ http://leaf.social/social-reintegration.html
- ↑ http://leaf.social/environmental-care.html
- ↑ "TOMS shoes to begin producing shoes in Haiti. Will this be a more effective way to help the poor?". slate.com. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
- ↑ "Archived Copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2016-12-01.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
- ↑ "The Broken "Buy-One, Give-One" Model: 3 Ways To Save Toms Shoes | Co.Exist | ideas + impact". fastcoexist.com. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
- ↑ Murphy, Tom (September 16, 2014). "Do TOMS shoes harm local shoe sellers?". Retrieved June 2, 2016.
- ↑ "Putting the boot in development". The Economist. October 27, 2014. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
- ↑ Wydick, Bruce; Katz, Elizabeth; Janet, Brendan (23 May 2014). "Do in-kind transfers damage local markets? The case of TOMS shoe donations in El Salvador". Journal of Development Effectiveness. 6 (3): 249–267. doi:10.1080/19439342.2014.919012.
- ↑ https://www.revistatigris.com.ar/dando-pasos-juntos/
- ↑ http://www.leaf.social/we-believe.html
- ↑ https://issuu.com/eidico/docs/revista_completa_issue_julio-agosto/50
- ↑ https://queestendencia.com/2016/10/22/leaf-social/
- ↑ http://itstyleblog.com/compras-online/leaf-shoes/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMu1KOLgg8A
- ↑ http://www.thecompletequalitycycle.com/
- ↑ https://es.scribd.com/document/331709189/The-Complete-Quality-Cycle
- ↑ "Sustainable Investment Awards 2016 - Finalists #sustainableinvestmentawards". Retrieved 2016-08-17.
- ↑ http://www.investmentweek.co.uk/investment-week/news/2477718/winners-of-the-sustainable-investment-awards-revealed
External links
This article "LEAF where you stand" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
