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Rebecca Brough Rebecca Brough was a card-carrying vegan long before the term was even coined. As a former model and fashion stylist she balked at the use of leather or fur because of a genuine concern for animal rights and the environment. Out of that concern, she conceived the ultimate alternative — MINK Shoes — a vegan shoe line that sidesteps leather for eco friendly materials and outpaces its predecessor by leaps and bounds in both style and function. In 2000, with sketches in hand Rebecca traveled to Italy in search of the perfect artisan who could bring her designs to life. After being showed the door by sixteen factories, which refused to even consider manufacturing such an unprecedented product, she met a cobbler whose family has been crafting shoes for generations. The creative challenge intrigued him. Working under Rebecca's strict specifications he was able to produce the shoe line she always knew she was meant to create. Three years of development went into the line. Rebecca assembled materials from sustainable resources such as wood, rubber and cork and adorned them with organic cotton, linen, denim and clever detailing. She designed recyclable packaging with handles to double as a bag and avoid the necessity of plastic. With six samples, she launched her first collection of Mink Shoes in 2003. In a clever bit of irony, Rebecca named her samples out of animals and designed them with the appropriate characteristics in coloring or trim. Dazzling and unabashedly sexy, Mink Shoes effortlessly reflect Rebecca's own sensibilities with their effervescent glamour and towering heels which effectively elongate a woman's legs and give her a ramrod straight and confident posture. But perhaps more importantly, the line proves Rebecca's conviction that a non-leather alternative can outperform traditional shoes. Machine-tested for durability, Mink Shoes outlasts its conventional counterpart thanks to the inimitable hand crafting that requires ten hours of painstaking labor as well as a specially formulated vegetable resin that doesn't easily break down. Effortlessly alluring and genuinely vivacious Rebecca is among the new breed of young designers who are leading the fashion industry into an era of environmental responsibility without sacrificing creativity and style. In Mink Shoes, Rebecca has designed the footwear for the next generation who knows that glamour and a respect for the environment can walk side by side.
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