Indian footwear brand Plaeto has partnered with Threads, retailer of school uniform apparel in the UAE, marking its first international venture.
The brand designs footwear for children aged five to 15, prioritising orthopaedic health.
Currently, Plato’s black and white school shoes can be found in Threads stores in Dubai’s Times Square Centre, City Mall and BurJuman Mall, and across Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Fujairah.
Products can also be found on Threads’ e-commerce site.
Ravi Kallayil, co-founder and CEO of Plaeto, said: “We are excited to enter the UAE market. We will be catering to all the key regions across the Emirates through the Threads stores as well as their online store.
“Given that Threads has been a market leader in retail, and especially in the school uniforms and shoes space, we consider ourselves to be truly fortunate to find product fit and brand resonance this early in our global journey.
“At Plaeto, we believe that ‘play’ and ‘school life’ are integral to the growth of children anywhere in the world and we are pleased to partner with Threads to serve the children in the UAE.”
With its product range widening, Plaeto intends to aggressively expand across the UAE.
Alongside children’s health, sustainability is kept top of mind at Plaeto.
For each pair of shoes produced, the brand releases 6.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide, which is 50 per cent lower than the average carbon footprint left behind in manufacturing a pair of athletic footwear.
Shoes are also packaged in reusable and environmentally friendly cloth bags, rather than single-use cardboard boxes.
“Over the least 12 years, Threads has been catering specifically to educational institutions in the Middle East,” said Jacques Rheeder, CEO of Threads.
“We are delighted to partner with Plaeto, an Indian brand, which has designed world-class shoes for children, leveraging the collective product experience of some of the finest footwear design teams from brands such as Nike and Adidas.
“At Threads, our motto is ‘Dressing Up the Future World Leaders’ and we believe that Plaeto shoes are a great fit for the children of the UAE.”
Threads stocks the school uniforms of more than 90 schools across the UAE.
