"Green materials are penetrating all fractions of the fashion industry. Recently, many sports giants have introduced recyclable materials into their products. A case in point is Adidas, whose recently launched reusable running shoes are made of 100 per cent reusable thermoplastic polyutherane. Known as the Futurecraft Loop, these shoes incorporate the brand’s speedfactory technology that spins the material into yarn and weaves it without the need for glue."
Green materials are penetrating all fractions of the fashion industry. Recently, many sports giants have introduced recyclable materials into their products. A case in point is Adidas, whose recently launched reusable running shoes are made of 100 per cent reusable thermoplastic polyutherane. Known as the Futurecraft Loop, these shoes incorporate the brand’s speedfactory technology that spins the material into yarn and weaves it without the need for glue. They can be recycled without the loss of performance or materials and completely made into a new pair of shoes.
Since the material is 100 per cent recyclable, these shoes can be recycled loosing their performance value and wasting any of their material waste. Adidas plans to launch around 200 pairs of these shoes in Spring/Summer 2021. Besides, the brand will also use renewable materials and technology in all footwear products by 2024.
Eco friendly is the way forward
Besides Adidas, other sports giants who are opting for eco-friendly products include the New Zealand sports
shoe brand Allbirds which has introduced wool sneakers made of Merino Wool. Extremely comfortable on the feet, these shoes can be washed directly into a washing machine.
The brand also developed two new materials: the lightweight fabric "Tree" based on eucalyptus fibers, and the carbon-deficient EVA sole material "SweetFoamTM" extracted from sugar cane. As it wants this material to become them mainstream material it will share this technology with other companies to jointly promote the industry's environmental development.
This technology sharing will promote sustainable development of the footwear industry, besides reducing the cost of all Allbirds products. It will also enable the company to promote the concept of environmental protection besides reducing its impact of commodity production.
Digital business media ’Glory’ released China's New Generation Fashion Consumer White Paper in 2018 which revealed that that 80 per cent of Chinese consumers believe that their individual purchases are also driven by their corporate social responsibility.
Global luxury goods and fashion brands increasing focus on building their corporate image besides strengthening environment protection initiatives has increased the sensitivity of young Chinese consumers. Having a better sense of responsibility towards the environment, these consumers usually opt for socially responsible brands. As Pascal Martin, a partner at strategic consulting firm OC&C Strategy Consultants, notes that the consumers’ demand for sustainable and natural ingredients will rise over time, with young consumers becoming the main driving force behind this trend.
Besides meeting the needs of consumers, some companies also have to guide them to green consumption and take on more social responsibilities. For this, world-renowned companies, having a huge brand appeal and a global business impact, need to come together to create more sustainable development of recycled materials.
