Plant-Based Material Part I
Green Shoes: From Seed to Blossom
Lucy Zuo, Helene Thibieroz, We Grow Green Tech
Awareness of sustainability — both regarding materials and manufacturing methods — is driving the global sustainable footwear market. Grandview Research predicts a growth from USD 7.6 billion in 2019 to 11.8 billion of revenue in 2027 for sustainable footwear, indicating the economic potential of the market. [1] Vegan shoes are now in great demand, and Stacey Chang, founder of the sustainable footwear brand Veerah, explained the phenomenon in an interview with the online portal Footwear News: “The purchasing power of the millennial generation is driving demand in this direction,” Chang noted, “and therefore requires manufacturers to take stock of their practices and be more environmentally conscious. Social media and sustainable fashion icons are pushing for greater environmental awareness and putting this in the spotlight.” [2]
Increased R&D in processing technology and sustainable material allowed businesses to respond to the demand of consumers and incorporate plant-based material in their products. With ongoing innovation and research, plant-based footwear is becoming less of an alternative to conventional synthetic shoes, and rather, more of a comfortable and flexible option. The strength of natural fibres is primarily gained by its geometrical composition, instead of the bulk of material, making them perfect for performance running shoes. Plant-based material and the concept of biomimicry are utilised for the design of footwear to make it more lightweight and durable. Luckily, athleisure footwear has become increasingly accessible to consumers in recent years precisely because it is comfortable and flexible to wear in a variety of occasions and social environments. The global Athleisure Market is expected to reach $257.1 million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 6.7% from 2019 to 2026, according to AMR. This makes it an ideal market for entrepreneurship and innovation of plant-based shoes.
Reebok launched the world’s first plant-based performance running shoe in its fall 2020 collection. The Forever Floatride GROW is made with castor beans oil cushioning, an algae sock lining, eucalyptus tree upper, and a natural rubber outsole. In addition, Reebok replaced traditional petroleum-based material with renewable agricultural elements. Reebok aims to create the first plant-based shoes that satisfy the performance and functionality requirement of athletic footwear, branding them as shoes Made with Things That Grow™. “With Forever Floatride GROW, we’re replacing oil-based plastic with plants,” Reebok Future’s vice president Bill McInnis. “The Forever Floatride GROW is the result. Plant-based performance with no compromise.” In an interview with Lousie Budd, the Director Apparel Material at Reebok, she noted: “We are working towards 2 goals currently: No virgin polyester use in 2025. All products sustainable by 2030.” In light of COVID-19, Budd emphasised the need for Reebok to “build fewer better things that will be durable and could perhaps have a second life.” Therefore, the challenge is to create performance biodegradable shoes that can exist in a closed loop of production, purchases, recycling and remaking.
Allibirds, an environmentally friendly footwear company, has designed a “Tree Dasher” performance running shoe made from plant-based material, including the company’s signature fibre, merino wool, along with eucalyptus trees for the uppers and sugar cane for the SweetFoam soles. Having identified the problem that recycled plastic also produces a carbon footprint, the company sought for a natural alternative which can absorb more CO2 out of the atmosphere than they emit during production. The Tree Dasher’s emissions during production are estimated to be 30% less than the average of a conventional shoe.
On running is a Swiss professional athletic shoe company that has an emphasis on its innovation with rebound rubber and cloud tech technology. On recently introduced The Roger shoes which are made from synthetic vegan leather . The Cloud Terry another model from On running is also using synthetic vegan leather and is designed to be lightweight, perforated for breathing and comfortable for daily exercises like classic On Cloud shoes.
BLOOM Treadwell used algae to make flexible foams and partnered with many shoe brands to implement its vision. Why Algae? Algae foams are sturdy but lightweight, and naturally odour-resistant. In addition, algae can be sustained by the nutrients of waste water and combustion produced in factories, without the need for deforestation and arable land. Ryan Hunt, the co-founder of BLOOM told us: “The photosynthetic efficiency of algae is the highest of any plant…Our idea was to transform the negative effects of water pollution and climate change, explosive growth of algae blooms in polluted areas, into a positive by harvesting the algae and recovering the nutrients out of the water, while producing a renewable biomass as a by product.” In 2016, BLOOM, an Algix brand, launched the world’s first algae-blended EVA to the footwear industry as a sustainable ingredient in flexible foams for high rebound applications such as shoes, sporting products, and accessories. [8] “In this Covid world we currently live in, and hopefully the post-Covid world ahead,” Hunt expressed, “sustainability, circularity, transparency, and positive impact, we believe, will become the new norm for fashion brands.”
As one of the leading brands for sportswear, Nike has also undergone a sustainable conversion. Nike Plant Color Collection, featuring the Air Max 95 and the Blazer Low, uses plant-based dye, according to its website. Nike released a “100% organic” plant-based Air Max 90 in 2019, made of upcycled sawdust, recycled foam and organic cotton. In addition, it is dyed naturally with pomegranate and turmeric. This vegan sneaker is produced in collaboration with Maharishi, an environmentally aware clothing and accessories company.
Going beyond just recycling and reusing, incorporating sustainable material in the production and material synthesis stage is becoming an expectation. With increasing technology research, functionality and sustainability no longer compromise each other, but rather are pursued side by side.
Bibliography:
2. https://vegconomist.com/market-and-trends/shoe-industry-vegan-shoes-on-the-upswing/
4. https://www.reebok.com/us/blog/438228
5. https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/sustainable-footwear-market
7. https://www.trailandkale.com/gear/on-cloud-terry-review/
8. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-sustainable-sneakers-were-made-algae-180963483/
9. https://www.livekindly.co/super-cute-vegan-kids-shoes-marks-spencer/
