essen

Marre is the founder and creative director of the shoe brand ESSĒN THE LABEL. She studied International Fashion Management in the Netherlands, moved to Australia and worked in various roles in the creative industry. When she started her career as a brand manager at an Australian shoe wholesaler, she learned everything about product development and what it takes to make a beautiful shoe. She visited factories in different countries and discovered her love for shoes while constructing shoes and understanding the technical process.

Marre, the founder of ESSĒN

However, during this time she also realised how much waste there is in the industry. The relentless cycles and the eternal pursuit of novelty increasingly exhausted and frustrated her. She longed for a slower pace and a more deliberate process. Away from mass production and poorly constructed products to shoes that matched her personal values.
And although she worked in the shoe industry at the time, she couldn't find quality, timeless and comfortable shoes that were ethically made. This is when she decided to try it herself. In 2016, she founded ESSĒN.

Marre wants to encourage her customers to buy less, choose better and wear longer.

I want to simplify women's wardrobes by helping them consider what they really need and ditch the superfluous. That's where the name comes from - Essentials. 

All shoes are made in Italy, Portugal and Spain and feature excellent craftsmanship and exceptional fits. ESSĒN works with local, family-run factories that have been making shoes for generations. From the selection of the leather to the construction of the lasts, to the cutting of the patterns and the manual finishing of the shoes, the entire range is handmade by people.
Alongside craftsmanship, sustainability is at the heart of what Marre does.
he models are limited, made in small editions or entirely to order.
This on-demand production of shoes is a demanding process, but one that avoids overproduction and up to 90% of the waste generated by traditional production methods.

ESSĒN uses leather sourced from Leather Working Group (LWG) Gold and Silver certified tanneries that are committed to chemical innovation and less environmentally damaging methods. As innovative synthetic alternatives that are free of fossil fuels are not yet ready for the market, they continue to work with leather that is a by-product of the meat industry.
To ensure that no forests are harvested, they work closely with their supply chain. All hides used can be traced back to the farm.

For shipping, they operate with RePack, a reusable and recyclable packaging alternative made from recycled materials. This saves up to 80% of carbon emissions compared to single-use waste.
Therefore, ESSĒN is a shoe label that does no harm in its production or consumption.