While traveling in Mexico in 2016, Espiritu Founders Francisco Alvarez and Oscar Yapor met a group of Mexican shoemakers who shared the impacts of fast fashion on traditional crafts and artisan products. With fashion companies using cultural products for seasonal styles, the Mexican huarache quality became obsolete, and was only available in very low quality with wear issues and slippery soles, which depicted a Mexican style, but not the amazing vernacular engineering of the artisan leather woven footwear. Wanting to help the local economy, Espiritu started as a business model that advocates for the cultural legacy of Mexico and gives back to the community. Espiritu offers huarache shoes made for the 21st century. Our Mission In Espiritu, we foster a great work environment that preserves the traditional techniques of Mexico, promoting cultural awareness through high quality shoes hand-crafted by Native Mexican artisans that give back. Our Values -Equality in the Workplace: Our most valuable resource is our people. Our artisan products would be nothing without our Native Mexican artisans and their century-old weaving techniques. They deserve to be given credit for their hard work. Espiritu's focal point is making sure all our team is treated equally, paid fairly, and is offered the best and safest working environment. -Ethically Made Huarache Shoes: Besides having ethical principles in the workplace with our people, our main focus is to create Mexican leather shoes that are organically sourced and ethically made. We understand that the clothing industry is one of the major polluting industries in the world. In order to preserve a world for future generations, each one of us has the responsibility to protect the world we live in today. Espiritu comes from Spirit - that which connects us ALL.