Multi-partner project to put biobased soles through their paces
Fashion for Good has teamed up with brands and material innovators for a 12 month project to evaluate biobased polymers for soles compared with standard polymers such as PU, TPU and EVA.
Adidas, Target and Zalando will be working with Algenesis Labs, Balena, Evoco, KUORI, and Yulex in ‘The Next Stride: Bio-Based Materials for Footwear Soles’.
Testing company SATRA will help to validate performance and environmental impact against the conventional options. The findings will then be used to develop a roadmap for larger-scale adoption.
Katrin Ley, managing director at Fashion for Good, said: “The Next Stride is a collaborative intervention to de-risk the widespread adoption of high-performance bio-based alternatives for footwear soles.”
Gudrun Messias, director of sustainability direction at adidas, added: “Through The Next Stride, we will work with innovators to explore if bio-based materials can potentially lower the environmental impact of footwear soles while at the same time meeting or even enhancing the high-performance standards our athletes and consumers expect from adidas products.”
