AKU

Website: www.aku.it
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AKUTrekkingOutdoorFootwear
Instagram: www.instagram.com/akutrekkingfootwear/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/AkuOutdoorFootwear

AKU, an Italian footwear company, was founded by Galliano Bordin and has grown from a small workshop into an industry, with more than thirty years’ experience in the design and production of high quality trekking and outdoor footwear. The award-winning AKU collection ranges from mountaineering boots to active free time footwear and behind each model lies a genuine love for manufacturing, built on the age-old prestigious tradition of Italian workmanship.

Research into new technologies, together with the design and production of the AKU trekking and outdoor footwear collection top models, takes place at the production plant in Montebelluna, Italy, famous for its sports footwear. The second production facility is in Romania, where a number of AKU models are manufactured.

AKU boots are designed for people that live, work and spend time in the outdoors. Since the start, the mountain environment and its cultural values have been the main inspiration for AKU. When it comes to product, AKU has a strong environmental ethos. The brand is committed to finding design and production solutions that have a reduced environmental impact, while keeping the quality and technical functions of the product intact.

AKU pays particular attention to the safety and origin of raw materials, as well as to the regeneration and reuse of various product components. Its commitment to shortening the supply chain has resulted in the company concentrating more than 85% of its production in company-owned facilities in Italy and Romania, thereby limiting the environmental impact caused by the transportation of goods. AKU can also trace the geographical origin of 100% of a product’s components—raw material and semi-finished parts, guaranteeing the user complete transparency.

One of the most important moves the company has made with regard to raw materials is to work with DANI – Sustainable leather, obtained through a certified process of chrome-free tanning and re-tanning of full grain hides from European cattle. Dani Sustainable Leather comes with certificates confirming the nubuck leather used is of Italian origin, has been specially treated to be fully waterproof and breathable and has been processed in compliance with the European standards for environmental protection. The final result is a very aesthetically pleasing product, which is at the same time rich in technical content and is built to last.