New Zealand-born footwear brand Allbirds and global sportswear brand Adidas have revealed the first product from their collaboration, Futurecraft.Footprint.
The shoe marks a significant milestone in the brands' collaborative partnership, which was announced in May 2020.
Over the past year, the businesses have worked together to accelerate solutions to reduce the 700 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted by the footwear industry annually.
And the Futurecraft.Footprint has done exactly that.
Each pair has a carbon footprint of just 2.94kg CO2e and has been created with 63% less emissions.
Currently, the carbon footprint of a typical pair of running shoes made of synthetic materials is between 11.3 and 16.7 kg CO2e.
Allbirds co-founder and co-CEO Tim Brown said that the shoe represents what can be achieved when brands work collaboratively.
"We believe that the challenge of solving climate change is the problem of our generation and solving it will not be done alone.
"We need to find new business models, new innovations and new ways of working together.
"Our partnership with Adidas is an example of that.
"Over the past year, our two teams have raced as one to create a shoe as close to zero carbon emissions as we could
possibly achieve.
"The results are an exciting step forward, and hopefully, an example for others to follow," he said.
The shoe is brought to life through a reimagining of Adidas’ Lightstrike midsole using Allbirds’ sugarcane-based SweetFoam material.
The newly developed upper material is made with 70% recycled polyester and 30% natural Tencel – a material made from wood pulp.
"Our partnership with Allbirds is a beacon of what can happen when competing brands from the same industry see the possibilities in coming together to design," Adidas executive board member global brands Brian Grevy added.
"By truly co-creating and providing each other with open access to knowledge and resources – such as Allbirds’ knowledge of carbon calculation and experience with natural materials, and Adidas’ capabilities in manufacturing and performance footwear – this is a call-to-action for other brands, and a milestone in the sports industry achieving carbon neutrality," he said.
Futurecraft.Footprint will see an initial launch in May with a raffle of 100 pairs to adidas Creators Club members, before a FW21 release limited to 10,000 pairs, and a wider release in SS22.