WHY
WHAT
WHERE
WHO

When did the YY Nation journey begin? A little about our founder: Jeremy Bank from New Zealand.

It all started with blue flecks in the sand.

The idea for YY Nation was born on a beach in Maui, Hawai'i in 2018. YY Nation's founder, Jeremy, was visiting Maui from New Zealand with his family two decades after his last visit.

While on his favorite surf beach his 9 year old daughter noticed little blue flecks in the sand. On closer inspection, he realized the flecks were microplastic waste. He was devastated by the amount of plastic waste, including old shoes that were washed up and littering the beautiful pristine beaches on Islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He asked the question WHY is all this pollution happening, and WHY does it have to be this way?

"I want the beach to be pristine as it was when I first visited Maui 20 years earlier so my children and their children can enjoy nature as I have."

At that moment Jeremy decided to put his shoe-making talents towards creating shoes that would leave a good environmental footprint. This was the birth of YY NATION.

He told his story to a good mate Darryl who had visited the same beach with Jeremy to windsurf 20 years earlier. Since then, they have been on a journey to make the world's most sustainable shoes.

Who is part of the Nation?

We look to ensure that ethical decisions throughout the YY supply chain are fair.
We are very careful and selective in working with suppliers who hold the same values as YY Nation, who treat their people well, and pay a good fair wage to improve their life and the life of their communities.

Our staff and suppliers are what makes YY, they are important and valued. It is important that our talented and skilled manufacturing staff receive fair wages.

We look to ensure that ethical decisions throughout the YY supply chain are fair, including good working conditions and a good wage.

Our farms use good, sustainable, and regenerative principles, being good stewards of the land they occupy.

The wool growers' care and respect for the sheep having some of the highest standards in ethical farming in the world.

Our suppliers are an integral part of everything we do. They have united with us in our vision to develop a new standard in ethical and sustainable shoe production.

True sustainability cannot be achieved without collaboration and we know that. We source from suppliers with the YY vision.

We work very closely with our wool suppliers and are proud of their high quality wool.

We are very glad to have such a close relationship with our wool farmers as it gives us assurance that the wool is the highest quality and that the animals are receiving the highest quality care.

We work closely with our pineapple leather suppliers. The pineapple leather is made from a waste product, the leaves, from the pineapple farming process.

Now it is saved from being burnt and polluting the environment while also providing an additional revenue stream for pineapple farmers.

We work directly with a distribution partner in the US. They have incredible capabilities and they share our passion for sustainability.

We are currently working with them to develop more sustainable practices - because we’re just getting started.

We partner with talented shoe-makers who produce the highest quality goods, but more importantly we want them to share the same ethical values as ours. We have a close relationship with our factory and ensure their workers are cared for and receive fair wages.

At YY Nation, all of the people who help to make your shoes are a part of the nation.