Kenenti, the Tunisian startup that regenerates shoes

He repairs them, restores them and personalises them with the work of some artists.

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Screenshot 2026 08 23 at 08.11.04

In the heart of La Goulette, a historic seaside suburb of Tunis, is the headquarters of Kenenti, a Tunisian startup that works primarily on the reuse and regeneration of shoes , rather than on the industrial recycling of shoes in the traditional sense.

Kenenti's business works like this:

  • Recover worn or abandoned shoes and try to avoid its disposal, extending its useful life. 
  • Le repair and restore working on leather, fabric, suede and soles. 
  • Le personalize artistically: colors, designs and decorations transform an old shoe into a desirable product again. 
  • Also use materials recovered from factories, such as leather scraps, fabrics and laces, for restoration and customization activities.

Kenenti 's main founder is Chérif Zaroui (transliterated Zroui/Zerevi in ​​some sources), a Tunisian designer and entrepreneur, who didn't start out with a green idea. Chérif began studying biology after graduating from high school. However, he realized that his approach was much more oriented toward creativity and design than theoretical study. He therefore abandoned that path and enrolled at ESSTED (École Supérieure des Sciences et Technologies du Design) , specializing in product design.

In 2019, while he was a student, his school collaborated with Fashion Week and the students were asked to propose a project. Zaroui had a rather unique idea: to create a shoe using only leather scraps , decorating it with motifs inspired by Tunisian Amazigh/Berber culture. The committee liked the project, and the professors encouraged him to continue.

At the same time, Zaroui and his friends Anwer Hsesna and Houssem Zghonda were passionate about sneakers. They noticed a lack of professional services in Tunisia for cleaning, repairing, and customizing quality shoes. Hence the idea of ​​Kenenti: instead of throwing away a worn-out sneaker, they could recover and repurpose it.

By 2022, Kenenti had a team of around 13 designers and artists and was awarded the best Tunisian project for the circular economy at the Francophonie Summit in Djerba.

Shoes are one of the most wasted items in the clothing supply chain: in 2026, the Centre National du Cuir et de la Chaussure estimated that the Tunisian market demands around 40 million pairs of shoes per year, while 3–4 million pairs are thrown away each year .

Image source: Kenenti/Facebook

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