Be it Nike, Adidas, or any other name that falls in line with the two, sportswear brands around the world have been seeking new ways to reduce waste and curate products with recycled materials. Now, adding to the trend is PUMA, which has revealed plans to pilot samples of their staple SUEDE sneaker silhouette, appropriately dubbing the biodegradable version RE:SUEDE.
As part of their No Time for Waste experiment, the shoe will be constructed out of sustainable materials like Zeology tanned suede and biodegradable hemp fibers, the former serves as a zeolite-based alternative to the standard tanning agents. Starting in January of this upcoming year, 500 lucky participants will garner the opportunity to try out the German brand’s latest effort to save the planet, going on to test the reimagined kicks’ durability for a total of six months before sending them back to PUMA’s headquarters for the sake of adjustments and enhancements for the next step of their project. Upon receiving their samples back, PUMA will put the shoes to the test of an industrial biodegradation process through a fully-controlled environment, as this will assist in further assuring varying shoes’ sustainable crafting process.
As merely the first step in the brand’s “Circular Lab,” which serves the role of PUMA’s newly-founded innovation hub, it will be exciting to see how yet another brand with such prowess will look to deliver re-envisioned renditions of an iconic product. You can read more about the RE:SUEDE project on PUMA’s website.
