LAUNCHED in 2021 by enviro-social entrepreneurs Mike and Banj Claparols, Lakat Sustainables was an ecologically conscious sneaker brand, dedicated to promoting the use of eco-friendly, ethically sourced and produced local materials: handwoven pineapple and cotton fabrics.

The foundations that led to Lakat's birth were first set in place when the founders of the brand first connected with the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Textile Research Institute (DoST-PTRI) in 2017. This meeting of minds introduced Mike and Banj to sustainable textile technologies through the DoST-PTRI's technology business innovation program, which enabled them to learn the capability to pretreat the pineapple and cotton fibers and convert them into the fabrics used in the Lakat sneakers.