8000Kicks Review: Are The Hemp Shoes Worth The Hype?

Updated: January 2024

Are you thinking to purchase 8000Kicks shoes? We bought two pairs and wrote this 8000Kicks Review to help you with your purchase choice. We looked at every aspect of the brand and the shoe: sustainability & ethics, materials, production, carbon Footprint and the product’s lifecycle.

We bought the 8000Kicks Explorer V2 – waterproof vegan sneakers made from hemp. Here is how we like the shoes and the brand.

Quick Summary

8000Kicks is a good vegan sneaker. It has great design, it is lightweight, flexible, comfortable and waterproof. What it falls short with is that the shoe is not machine-washable, it can get hot in the summer and the toebox is a bit tight, at least for our feet.

Specifications: Made from hemp & Algae, natural dyes, waterproof, lightweight: 240g (0.50lb)

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8000Kicks: The Brand

8000Kicks is a vegan hemp shoe brand headquartered in Mountain View, California. The company was founded in 2019 by then business student Bernardo Carreira with the help of her 77-year-old grandmother Maria Otilia.

Initially called Dopekicks, 8000Kicks rose to stardom through a Kickstarter campaign. With a sleek shoe and witty marketing, the company managed to raise $250k instead of the initial goal of $10k. Everybody wanted the hemp shoes (including me). Read more on how we review.

8000Kicks has one main bestselling vegan trainer, Explorer V2. The shoe is available for both men and women and comes in multiple colorways. The brand recently also launched The Seeker – a tennis shoe version of the Explorer. 

In addition to shoes, 8000Kicks also makes vegan hemp backpacks, hats, wallets, socks, face masks, and even dog chew toys. The brand manufactures in two countries: Braga, Portugal, and Dongguan, China.

What we like about 8000Kicks

• The company is vegan – Everything from 8000Kicks is vegan. No cruel animal materials, no animal adhesives. Kindness is in their DNA.
• They use hemp – Hemp is just the best for making shoes. It is natural, durable, antibacterial, and sustainable. Who said vegan shoes are just plastic?
• The shoes are waterproof – 8000Kicks knows that people today are wearing sneakers all year round. Water-resistance is essential.
• The designs are timeless – The shoes go with anything and are always in style. We also like that they only have a few styles to choose from.
• Great marketing – We just love their lighthearted marketing approach. “no, you cannot smoke the shoe” and “no, you won’t be attacked by police dogs in the airport.”
• Great customer service – When my shipment didn’t arrive in time, the customer service was very quick to react, beyond helpful, and friendly.
• Free shipping to EU and USA – Always a plus. Sorry, other countries.
• They care about the environment – Using natural materials, repurposing algae and carbon-neutral production are just a few ways 8000Kicks helps the planet (more in the Sustainability section).
• They care about people – 8000Kicks is donating shoes to the homeless and during Covid-19, they donated over 10,000 masks to frontline workers.

What we don’t like about the brand:

• They are not certified vegan – While we believe 8000Kicks when they say they are vegan, it would be nice if they would get their products officially certified. A vegan label from PETA is an important value signal and a guarantee the brand takes its vegan pledge seriously.
• The shoes are sold out all the time – We’re all about avoiding excess but it can be frustrating not to get a hold of a pair. 8000Kicks are often sold out (especially the new model), so you need to act fast when the new shipment arrives.
• No physical ways to try the shoes on – Buying shoes online can be tricky. Since 8000Kicks are only sold through their own online store, there is no way to try them on before purchasing. Luckily, returns in the EU and USA are free.
• The shoes are not the cheapest – paying 130 dollars is still quite hefty for sneakers. Even though it’s quite a normal price in the ethical vegan shoe category, it’s still double the price of Skechers.
• Very cannabis positive – the shoe and packaging does include hemp and other weed messaging, so if you are not as cannabis positive, you might feel a bit uncomfortable.

8000Kicks’ Sustainability & Ethics

8000Kicks is overall quite a sustainable and ethical business. But as always, there is room for improvement. Here are the pros and cons of 8000Kicks in terms of materials, production, carbon footprint, and product lifecycle.

Materials

8000Kicks uses natural vegan materials which is great from the environmental perspective. The sneakers have a hemp upper and hemp insole. Their Bloom outsole is made of algae collected from harmful algal blooms. Additionally, they only use natural dyes.

Hemp is one of the most sustainable materials out there. The hemp plant produces lots of usable fiber and it takes around 50% less water to grow hemp compared to cotton. Hemp is also durable which adds to the eco-friendliness – it stands the test of time and adverse weather conditions.

On their FAQ page, 8000Kicks discloses that their hemp comes from China, Romania, Netherlands, Canada, and France. But we’d like to know more. As conscious consumers, it matters to us whether their hemp is sustainably grown and whether farmers are fairly compensated for their work. 8000Kicks does not currently provide enough info about that.

Also, there should be more information about their innovative algae outsole. Typically for outsoles, biowaste is mixed with plastic polymers for added stability and durability. So while helping clean up our planet of bad algae, the outsoles may still contain plastic.

Pros: vegan materials, natural dyes, hemp is a very sustainable choice, insoles repurpose harmful algal blooms

Cons: not enough transparency on their hemp farms, outsoles are probably not biodegradable

Production: Where are 8000Kicks Made?

The biggest problem for me with 8000Kicks is that the shoes are made both in Portugal and China. In fact, only their face masks and Explorer V1 (the first shoe) are made in Portugal and the vast majority of the work happens in the Chinese factories.

For the consumer, it looks like Portugal is added to the list in an attempt to appear more ethical on paper. While China is not all evil, Portugal is undoubtedly the better choice with stricter EU environmental laws and better safety and living standards for the workers.

In 8000Kicks’ defense, the company is quite transparent about their Dongguan factory and the average salaries there look great (500$ to 600$). When we asked the owner Bernardo why 8000Kicks chose to produce in China, he gave many valid reasons:

• High-quality hemp: China is the #1 hemp country in terms of variety, quality, quantity, and price. While all other countries banned Hemp in the 60s and 70s, China started making it. Therefore, China is decades ahead of the rest of the world in hemp textiles.
• High-quality production: High factory automation allows the Chinese factories to manufacture at high-quality standards.
• Good infrastructure: China has great access to talented suppliers of shoe components.

Bernardo also commented on the price of production in China: “If we want the cheap product, we would rather move to Bangladesh or Cambodia where salaries are low. China was cheap 20 years ago, but not anymore.” – so we can give them extra points for that.

All in all, we understand why 8000Kicks chooses to produce in China but we would still like to know about more about the factory beyond average salaries. And since the role of Portugal is more symbolic at this point, 8000Kicks could just commit to China altogether.

Pros: some products are made in Portugal, the company gives good reasons why they moved their production to China

Cons: not enough information about the Chinese factory

Carbon Footprint

8000Kicks is a carbon-neutral company and the carbon footprint of the shoes is overall very low. They care about clean energy and optimizing production so that it does not harm the environment and pollute our atmosphere.

The average CO₂  emission for one pair of running shoes is 14 kg while it is only 4.1 8000Kicks – that’s more than three times less. Also, their factories run up to 55% on renewable energy and the company is also helping to capture CO₂ by planting trees.

While 8000Kicks is doing a good job carbon-wise, we believe they could do even better. Many vegan shoe brands today produce in factories that run on 100% renewable energy. That’s a high standard but it’s being done.

Instead of offsetting their carbon footprint, more and more brands choose to invest in removing more carbon from our atmosphere than they are accountable for. So 8000Kicks could also consider becoming carbon-positive in the future.

Pros: carbon-neutral, high use of renewable energy

Cons: not carbon-positive, not run on 100% renewable energy

Product Lifecycle

In terms of the product lifecycle, 8000Kicks does some things very well. Firstly, they only have a few products and colorways, all classic and timeless. The brand does not play around with risky designs that might go straight into landfills.

Since the Kicks are often sold out, the brand plans its production well – it’s almost an on-demand model where there is not much excess. Nothing is pushed down people’s throats with lavish discounts – everyone who has a pair of 8000Kicks, actually wanted them.

However, 8000Kicks does not use a circular system. This means you cannot send your old shoes back to the factory where they are recycled or repurposed. A closed-loop system is something more companies consider for sustainability and we wish 8000Kicks would, too.

Since they only use natural dyes, it can wear off quicker compared to industrial dyes.

Pros: not many different styles, no excess supply

Cons: no circular system, the shoes are not recyclable

Testing The Shoe

My partner and I both got a pair of 800Kicks flagship shoes – Explorer V2. The trainer has a hemp upper, hemp insole, and their proprietary Bloom algae outsole. Explorer V2 is the slightly updated version of their initial Explorer from the Kickstarter campaign.

All the colorways looked great, so it was difficult to choose. I ended up getting one in black & white and my partner for the beige & green model. The shoe is also available in all beige, light green, dark green, all black, navy, and dark brown.

We put the shoes to the test right away. We wore them to a concert with hours of dancing in the pouring rain and mud. So we have the answer: yet, they are totally waterproof! 

Here Is Our Condensed 8000Kicks Review:

• First impression: very good-looking shoe, looks just like in the photos. Beautiful design, lightweight, and good craftsmanship. Quality stitching, no glue stains or loose threads, hold shape well. Very satisfying unboxing experience.
• Look: The shoe looks minimalist as advertised. Does not make the feet look big but rather the opposite. Very seamless. The logo is also not too prominent which I like.
• Sizing: runs a bit small, I got it just in case a size bigger and it fits perfectly. The toe box is a bit tight regardless.
• Fit: very flexible and lightweight. But it doesn’t hug your leg like mesh upper. The hemp upper is a bit stiffer.
• Comfort: very comfortable for a few hours but feet got a bit tired wearing it all day. Dug in at the ankle a bit. The shoe didn’t offer enough support. Would wear them to work and events but not for hiking or power walks. Good outsole grip though.
• Waterproof: yes, totally checks out. we wore them in a concert with pouring rain – got back with socks still dry.
• Breathability: the shoes breathe surprisingly well, and haven’t made the feet sweat. On a hot summer day, they can get a bit warm.
• Durability: 2 months in, still look like new, no signs of decay. However, one of the main complaints about the shoe has been its durability. Bernardo the owner said, that they have since changed their hemp supplier and the new models are more durable now.
• Maintaining: Easy to wipe clean, dust-proof. Wish they were machine-washable mostly because I am used to it.

Summary Explorer V2 pros:
Vegan, ecological, beautiful and well-made shoe. lightweight, waterproof, and breathable.

Explorer V2 cons:
Could be more comfortable and support the foot a bit more. Not machine-washable. Can be hot in the summer. There are some concerns about long term durability, which the company addressed by changing their hemp supplier.

What other reviews say: people generally love the look and fit, for some, it rubbed the ankle a bit and ran small, not breathable enough, some don’t receive the order fast enough, and there seem to be questions about the durability. I have used mine only for a summer and they have lasted very well so far.

Final Verdict

8000Kicks is a great vegan sneaker brand that deserves our love. The brand is fully vegan and they use natural materials like hemp and algae. Hemp is one of the most sustainable materials out there and fits shoemaking perfectly. 

What we would change about the brand? More transparency.

We’d like to know more about where their hemp is sourced from and what is in their algae soles. It would also be good to get more information about their Chinese and Portuguese factories and how the production is set up between the countries.

We have enjoyed their Explorer V2 sneaker. It looks great, feels very lightweight, and is actually waterproof. We would add more support from the upper and outsole for the shoe to be better for traveling – but it’s overall a very solid everyday sneaker.

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