MOVMT, The People’s Movement make vintage-inspired footwear and accessories from upcycled plastic, organic and eco-conscious materials. The brand is active in the fight against single-use plastic pollution.

The story

MOVMT co-founder and creative director Mark Wystrach was surfing in Bali when he noticed that the island was being polluted by single-use plastics. A few years later he was approached by his brother-in-law Kevin Flanagan to start a business. They launched the eco-conscious brand The People’s Movement or MOVMT. MOVMT gathers and upcycles plastic bags from the beaches of Bali. The plastic is gathered by local villagers and then washed, cut, dried and heat-pressed to make their BPX material. This upcycled plastic material is used in their shoe uppers, wallets and ornate detailing on t-shirts. The bags the shoes are sold in are also made from this BPX upcycled plastic material.

Thinking globally

Mark Wystrach sees Bali as a microcosm for what is happening globally. MOVMT has also started cleaning plastic waste from their home base in Southern California and upcycling it into materials for their limited edition t-shirts. Their ultimate goal is to clean up plastic not just in Bali, but all around the world.

The new Flanny Bombastic shoe has an upper that is entirely made from upcycled plastic. The shoe and packaging combined divert 24 plastic bags from the beaches of Bali. For the eco-conscious wallets, 10 plastic bags are upcycled and 5 plastic bags are upcycled for the ornate detailing on their t-shirts. 15 plastic bags are repurposed in the BPX ballet flat.

MOVMT also donate a portion of their sales to 5 Gyres, a non-profit that enables systematic reduction of plastics through oceanic research, collaboration, and action.

To purchase MOVMT head on over to their site here.