“I’d like to see Africa become the next Italy when it comes to shoemaking,” Oliberté founder Tal Dehtiar once told the Toronto Star. Based in Toronto, Oliberté is a socially conscious footwear brand that teams up with African farmers, factories, and workers to produce premium leather men’s sneakers, loafers, bags and accessories. The lace-up Lambo loafer, the Adibo chukka boot, the Mogado deck shoe, and other styles feature recycled crepe rubber out soles, vegetable-tanned sheepskin, goatskin, or cowhide leather, and more than 1,000 stitches per shoe. Classic and comfortable, these shoes and boots are built to last and — like George Clooney — only get better-looking with age. In keeping with its corporate mission, Oliberté picks its manufacturing partners based on their labor and environmental practices and aims to strengthen Africa’s middle class by creating stable jobs for local craftspeople. Since its 2009 debut, the company has acquired an impressive customer base that includes the Gap, Steven Alan, and Amazon.