Purpose-Driven Brands — Case Study 3: Cariuma

Cariuma`s urban and lifestyle DNA, aligned with sustainable innovation. Know more in a deep conversation with the founders.

The Vallely, Cariuma’s high-performance skate shoe.

Cariuma is a brand that surprised me and caught my attention a few years ago. As an urban fashion creative director, I am always looking for new releases and am also aware of the sustainability movement in the sneaker industry. To be honest, I am disappointed sometimes. But when I discovered Cariuma, I immediately wanted to know more about the brand. After all, it is a sneaker brand born in my city — Rio —and with strong sustainability commitments. It made me celebrate as a goal for my soccer team.

Brand resume:

Cariuma was founded by David Python and Fernando Porto, two former footwear industry executives. After working together for a few years and bonding over their mutual love of board sports (skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding) and their home country of Brazil, they thought it was vital to reinvent the sneaker game and reshape the industry by example. They prioritize a sustainable production model, from responsible design and materials sourcing to ethical manufacturing and delivery via single-box, 100% recycled packaging. Since June 2020, they have committed to planting two trees for every pair of shoes they sell, and in November 2021 when the company announced the achievement of its B Corp Certification.

The brand had huge exposure in the last Olympic Games. In the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, skate medalists Kelvin Hoefler (Brazil) and Jagger Eaton (United States) were wearing Cariuma’s Catiba Pro shoes during their performances. In the Paris 2024 Olympics, collaborating with the Brazilian designer Pedro Andrade, the brand provided uniforms for skateboarding teams from the Netherlands, Portugal, and Slovakia. The brand shoes were worn by the Olympic skateboarders, Jagger Eaton, Kelvin Hoefler, Gustavo Ribeiro, and Roos Zwetsloot. Cariuma also sponsors and collaborates with notable surfers, including legends like Gerry Lopez, Kai Lenny, and Italo Ferreira (a 2019 World Champion and 2020 Olympic gold medalist).

In this case study, I want to highlight three characteristics that built a strong foundation for the brand’s success. Three strategic and precise characteristics: Board-Sport Style Focus, Sustainability Approach as Innovation, and Clear Niche Ethos and Product.

Board-Sports Style Focus:

The brand carries the board sports passion of its founders. Very focused on sponsoring skateboarders and surfers, and keeping the DNA and lifestyle of each. It is something very authentic and helps to build a brand community around the same interests. They are also not another skate, sneakers, or surf brand; they are a brand that cares about this community, bringing their full perspective and point of view. Especially understanding the mindset of these communities.

Sustainability Approach as Innovation:

Cariuma's main differentiation in the sneakers market is the clear sustainable innovation approach, not just in a communication way, but as a clear priority in the company's operations and decisions. They align their positioning as innovative, and sustainability is an alignment of this innovative approach, which is good for the branding balance around the sports community.

Clear Niche Ethos and Product:

They are not trying to track all the consumers; they are designing and creating to be a perfect fit for a niche audience that cares about what the brand is building, what they support, and loves their products. It's a clear ethos, and the focus is just on shoes. They are not trying to be, at least for now, a lifestyle brand; the focus is on creating good sneakers and being an option in this market. Thinking around business operation and strategy, these are very strategic decisions that make a lot of sense in terms of scalability and brand building.

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This time, instead of concluding this Case Study here, with my final thoughts about the Cariuma, I will let it open to a conversation I had with the founders. David Python and Fernando Porto answered some of my questions in 2022 for an article for B The Change, after their B Corp Certification. Enjoy and understand more about Cariuma.

How did the idea to create a sustainable skate shoe brand come about? I am curious about this “idea stage” moment.

David Python: Cariuma is the result of Fernando and I wanting to do something better with our life; from our desire to become business partners and create a brand that we would both be really proud of. This came from the pain and disappointments from our previous experiences working in the fashion and footwear industry. We had left our executive positions, and we wanted to work in a great company with great people, so we thought we could create one! Our a-ha moment was in the Chilean Andes when we went snowboarding there and came back, deciding to join forces.

After getting together, we realized there was no sneaker brand offering great-looking sneakers that were very comfortable and made with a conscious mindset, and we thought we could build something unique. Our brand’s skateboarding and surfing aspect was natural given our involvement with board sports. Since he was 10, Fernando has skated, both of us have surfed since kids, and we love snowboarding every time we can.

What is the Cariuma mission?

Python: Cariuma is on a mission to spread positivity and reshape our industry through the best sustainable products while recovering and restoring the environment. Our number one value in the company is “we start with who.” This is how we run Cariuma and how we build our brand. It is fundamental for us to be with people we admire and share values; this is true from the people we recruit to the factories we work with to, of course, the skate and surf teams we build.

Why the focus on skateboarding?

Fernando Porto: Skateboarding has been a part of my life since I was 10, and all my injuries don’t let me forget about it, not even for one day. Ha ha.

Cariuma is about bringing positivity to the world, doing good, and respecting the people and the planet — this is one of our contributions to skateboarding. I find it important to show that being a responsible company and adhering to the highest standards in sustainability do not imply trading off anything. We are showing that one can achieve a B Corp Certification and have a durable, high-performance skate shoe worn by skateboarding Olympic medalists, many of the best skaters in the streets, and the world champions of the SLS Super Crown. We hope to inspire others to start other new brands and possibly inspire the big corporations from our industry to do more meaningful change.

Do you think the sports industry and the street culture need to be more connected to sustainability?

Porto: Absolutely! To us, it’s eternally important to inject sustainability into every section of our lives, particularly skateboarding. Skate has such a major impact on the culture and young people worldwide, and we believe that by creating a more positive space, we can touch the lives of more people globally.

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Tell me more about what becoming a B Corp represents to Cariuma.

Python: The certification is important for us in many ways, and being the first skate shoe brand is part of that. We hope to pave a path forward that is more ethical, responsible, and forward-thinking than our predecessors.

Getting the B Corp Certification was a no-brainer for us from the start. Becoming a B Corp means that we adhere to the highest standards in sustainability and completed an in-depth audit of everything the company does. We saw the certification not only as a way for us to check where we were and improve but also as a way to provide proof to our community that you can have a great fashion brand that is also conscious and make decisions and that truly commits to be more sustainable. We believe it’s cool to care!

What were the highlights of Cariuma's B Corp Certification? And what do you believe is the most important good practice Cariuma is doing using business as a force for good?

Python: Our B Corp Certification is not only an honor but a milestone. Earning our certification helped us to understand how far we’ve come and how we will evolve into the future — as a team, as a sustainable sneaker business, and as the first B Corp-certified skate shoe brand.

We are honored to join a movement of businesses working for the well-being of the planet and its people and inspired to recommit daily in our mission to reshape the industry. This is also put into action by embedding a ‘mission-lock’ clause within our company’s governing documents — protecting our social purpose to pursue important social and ethical goals as we scale.

Supply chain management has always been a topic close to heart. We take pride in working very closely with our suppliers to achieve transparency and traceability across our supply chain. Strict controls have been put in place when it comes to screening and auditing to make sure that they meet the highest environmental and social standards.

We are excited to be at the forefront to lead and inspire other businesses in the industry to join us and reshape the industry.

What should we expect in the future of Cariuma? What is the vision?

Porto: We will be launching new shoe styles bringing innovative materials to reality very soon. New product categories are in the pipeline, too, and you can definitely also expect to see us in thousands of physical stores in 2022.

What would you recommend to entrepreneurs who are looking to start a responsible company inspired by the Cariuma example?

Porto: People know when it’s for real! And if what you do is authentic, the energy created around it is much stronger. Remember that the dream is what gets things started, but execution and consistency will make the difference between success and failure.

The last question: You guys have some amazing collaborations. Is Cariuma open to collaboration with other responsible brands in fashion, design, and lifestyle?

Porto: We absolutely are! We have some amazing ones coming up in 2022 and 2023. We are thrilled to continue partnering with like-minded brands that we admire a lot.

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