Vegan Business Talk

In this episode, I interview Rebecca Mink, founder of vegan luxury shoe brand Mink Shoes in Los Angeles. Rebecca is a pioneer in this field, as she started Mink Shoes back in 2000 when there were few other players in the market. Working as a celebrity wardrobe stylist, she found it hard to find high-end vegan shoes for her clients, so she decided to create her own. She was initially turned down by 16 factories in Italy, until one finally agreed to take up the challenge of making luxury vegan shoes, for which Rebecca had to create her own animal-free glue! Eighteen years later she’s now a part-owner of this female-run factory, which also makes shoes for the likes of Chanel, Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, Dolce and Gabbana and Gucci. Mink’s specialty is making custom shoes and the company’s clients include celebrities such as Pamela Anderson, Alicia Silverstone and Natalie Portman, as well as Miley Cyrus who approached the brand when she turned vegan to ask Rebecca to make animal-free versions of her favo