Food brands have been making fashion moves for decades. La Vie’s new plant-based sneaker collab with MoEa is the latest — and most charitable — drop yet.
Remember when Coca-Cola started making streetwear? The beverage giant’s fashion foray traces back to the early 1980s, when Tommy Hilfiger folded Coke’s iconic branding into his designs and Heavy D & The Boyz wore it in a music video, cementing the drink as a cultural touchstone before it ever touched a runway. By 2014, Coke had racked up collaborations with Moschino, Stüssy, Opening Ceremony, and Awake NY — and the blueprint for food brands crossing into apparel was officially written. The latest trend in food and beverage collabs is getting a bit of a different spin.
La Vie, the Natalie Portman-backec French plant-based food brand known for its convincingly bacon-like alternatives, has crossed into footwear with “From Plants With Love,” a limited-edition capsule made in partnership with MoEa, the Paris-based sustainable sneaker brand known for making shoes from fruit and plant waste. The drop launched March 28 on MoEa’s website at $245 per pair, and it arrives with a charitable component: 100 percent of profits will go to YouCare France to fund La Demeure Monday, a plant nursery and animal farm sanctuary that also supports individuals in reintegration programs or experiencing homelessness.
In a LinkedIn post, La Vie said the exclusive collection is “proof that plants are not just a trend, but THE trend,” designed for “all those who want to take their convictions to the streets.”
The sneakers are constructed from agricultural byproducts — corn, grape, and apple-based materials — with no animal leather used in the design, and are manufactured in Italy and Portugal. They arrive in La Vie’s signature pink, a color the food brand has made central to its visual identity since launch. A coordinating pair of socks rounds out the capsule at €16.
The launch campaign, photographed by Margot Bérard, featured influencers aligned with wildlife advocacy and sustainable consumption, including Oli & Monday, Laura Jane, and Isaak Dessaux. The collection is available in limited quantities exclusively on MoEa’s website.
Earlier this year, oat milk darling Oatly launched “Pour Into Others,” a limited-edition barista workwear capsule built in partnership with Los Angeles fashion label Kids of Immigrants. The drop included a canvas chore jacket complete with hammer loops and deep pockets, a crossbody messenger bag, and a barista cap — all fronted by real baristas and launched alongside partnerships with eight immigrant-owned cafés across the US. It sold out in 24 hours.
Plant-based materials are reshaping the sneaker industry
La Vie’s footwear debut arrives as plant-derived innovation accelerates across the sneaker market. Stella McCartney’s S-Wave Sport trainers, developed with material science company Balena, are built with BioCir Flex — a compostable, biobased material derived from castor beans, oils, and polysaccharides — and pineapple leather uppers. The soles are dyed with cinnamon waste, giving each pair a spice scent, and can be composted or sent back to McCartney’s team for recycling. The trainers were named among TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2025.
MoEa’s GEN1 All-In sneaker blends OrangeSkin, CornSkin, MushroomSkin, CactusSkin, and GrapeSkin with a lining made from 70 percent recycled bamboo and soles containing 40 percent recycled rubber. The brand estimates its shoes produce 6.4kg of CO2 per pair, compared to 30.1kg for conventional leather footwear — a gap that makes the material choice as functional as it is principled.
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