P448 Ta'ape

At P448, we pride ourselves on working with communities and tapping into their local experts. Especially on Moloka‘i, an island with deep-rooted values in taking care of your neighbor and maintaining the island, we knew there were more ways to use this invasive species. With the help of Conservation International and Moloka‘i fishermen, we sourced 2,000 ta‘ape skins from the island of Moloka‘i. Each John Ta‘ape sneaker created utilizes the leather of one ta‘ape. To contribute to Moloka‘i’s circular economy, the fillets were donated to local families and allocated to those in need, the bones were used as fertilizer by a local farm and the rest were donated to science research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to aid in their further studies of ta‘ape life history. #P448