Why We Make our Rock Climbing Shoes Vegan and in the USA

Philanthropy, community, and responsibility are priorities at businesses both established and new - and that's AWESOME.  Aura was founded with the same priorities and foundations.  A couple of our core ideas involve making vegan products domestically in the USA.  Though our main mission is to make the body more efficient for adventures, we believe that this can be accomplished in ways that we believe not just our company, but all companies should operate.

1)  Be Kind to Animals!

A high percentage of rock climbing shoes currently on the market involve a leather upper.  Leather is strong, stretches, and is preferred among most climbers as it adapts to their foot over time - but at what cost?  

• Leather often is dyed with cheap methods that stain your foot.  Not only that, but you definitely don't want to be caught taking a whiff of the smell that foot sweat and leather have together.  
• Ethically speaking, we are against using leather in our shoes and products.  It comes from animals and it's simply our belief that they shouldn't be killed just so we as humans can use it.

Our goal is to use alternative materials and in our products instead of leather and other animals products AND having the product perform better than ever.  In the end it's really about using these alternatives in stealth and challenge the status quo on what's best to use.  If we can make a superior product and have the community love it anyways, it's a huge win in our book.

2)  Be Made in the USA!

Another topic of huge debate is whether manufacturing in the USA or outsourcing is good business.  Luckily, we really don't care what everyone else thinks and are stubborn about producing our goods in the USA.  It's not really about feeding an ego or anything like that, we just think it's a smart idea.

• We want to know the people we are working with to grow our dream.  If the people we having working with us are as excited about making a product as we are, then the outcome will show.  When the people hand crafting the products suggest a way to improve either the process or the final product, we listen!  This is a hard thing to have when communicating with 14 hour time zone changes with factories you've never set foot in.  
• Manufacturing domestically brings production & shipping times down dramatically.  No need to wait months for a style to ship overseas and go through customs.  We can literally go to the shop floor and make a change to a product - what a great advantage to producing elsewhere.  
• Ultimately, if we support our community (and ultimately country) then we can all grow together and enjoy the ride together.

We hope to have your support with our choices to run our business.  If you'd like to connect with us, feel free to drop a line.