We've Always Given a Damn: Macbeth and the Future of Conscious Footwear

There's a line Tom DeLonge said when Macbeth first started that still sums up everything we do:

"The next generation needs something more than a skateboard company or a hipster fashion line… They need something with a soul."

Twenty-something years later, that soul is still the thing. And part of what gives Macbeth its soul is a commitment that goes beyond what we make — it's about how we make it, and what we refuse to use in the process.

Vegan Since Day One

Macbeth wasn't a conventional footwear brand that eventually got around to going vegan. Vegan construction was baked in from the beginning — part of the same founding DNA as the music, the skate culture, and the California spirit that the brand was built on.

From our very first shoe, the Eliot — launched in November 2002 as a Vegan Design — we made a choice to build product without leather, without animal-derived adhesives, without compromise. That's not a trend we caught. That's who we are.

In 2007, PETA recognised Macbeth with their Best Vegan Skate Shoe award. We're proud of that. But more than the recognition, we're proud that it took zero pivot to get there.

PETA Approved. Genuinely.

The PETA stamp on Macbeth footwear isn't a marketing add-on. It's a third-party confirmation of something we were already doing. Every pair we produce is free from animal-derived materials — uppers, linings, adhesives, the lot.

For the customer who cares about this, it means they don't have to do the research. The work is already done.

BLOOM: Turning Algae Into Outsoles

This is where things get interesting.

Our outsoles use BLOOM algae-based foam — a material developed from harvested algae biomass that would otherwise consume oxygen and choke out aquatic ecosystems. By pulling excess algae from waterways and converting it into high-performance foam, BLOOM helps restore water quality while keeping petroleum out of our production process.

It performs. It flexes, it cushions, it lasts. And every pair offsets a measurable volume of CO₂ and filtered water returned to natural habitats.

We didn't choose BLOOM because it was the easy option. We chose it because it's the right one — and because it fits exactly what Macbeth has always been about: using the platform you have to push things forward.

Music as a Force for Change

Macbeth exists at the intersection of music, skate, and street culture. That's not a positioning statement — it's the actual origin story. And the artists who shaped this brand — from Blink-182 to the vegan artists in our early roster like Bane, Alkaline Trio, American Nightmare, H20, and Sick Of It All — were never just ambassadors. They were believers.

Music culture has always carried countercultural values. The refusal to accept things as they are. The instinct to question what's normal and build something better. Those aren't just good values for a stage — they're good values for a supply chain.

We think about sustainability the same way a band thinks about a record: it has to mean something, or what's the point?

This Is the Mission

We're not here to be the loudest voice in the sustainability conversation. We're here to keep doing the work — quietly, consistently, and without cutting corners.

Vegan construction. PETA approval. BLOOM outsoles. Music at the core. These aren't separate initiatives. They're one thing: a brand that was built to give a damn and hasn't stopped.

The next generation deserves something with a soul. We're still building it.

Macbeth Footwear. Created by musicians. Built for the ones who care.