Oscar Anselmi

I come from a footwear family, one whose heritage stretches back four generations. I spent my twenties working in the industry, where I eventually began to feel disillusioned by how fast-paced and trend-driven it had become. Constant newness came at the expense of long-term thinking, and time spent working with manufacturers showed me first-hand what our consumption costs the people and the places that make it.

We live in a world that has come to value new over better. I started Collective Canvas in response to that.

The brand began to take shape during a period living in Amsterdam. Early sketches, and the original style names, were inspired by the leaning, crooked angles of the Dutch canal houses, balanced with a love of the minimalist silhouettes of Nordic and Japanese design. Clean lines, softened by the imperfections of natural materials.

It took the better part of a year to find the suppliers and the factory who shared the same values. Today our sneakers are made from hemp and organic cotton canvas, natural rubber and cork, with synthetics kept to a minimum.

Our name tells our story: canvas, and the collective hands involved at each stage of making it. We don't follow fashion seasons, we rarely discount, and we release things when they're ready.

Slow. Simple. Transparent. That's the whole idea.