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Adidas x Parley: From sea junk to street fashion
Adidas has released its yearlong-awaited pair of kicks—50 limited-edition pairs made of recycled plastic.
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The new Adidas x Parley shoe made of two kinds of recycled plastic. (www.parley.tv/-)
Adidas has released its yearlong-awaited pair of kicks—50 limited-edition pairs made of recycled plastic.
A seafoam turquoise façade gives this new shoe a calming allure. Upon closer inspection, the top of the shoe is actually pure white. Wrapped around the white tongue are teal threads woven intricately in mimicry of an Indonesian rice field as seen from above.
Aside from thermoplastic polyurethane being the only non-recycled material used, the innovative design recycles about 16.5 old bottles and 13 grams of plastic from gill nets for a single upper on one shoe. The threads are collected from plastic waste and old fishing nets retrieved from the coasts of Africa.
The first prototype of this shoe, known as the Adidas x Parley shoe, was unveiled last summer at a press conference hosted by Parley for the Oceans on the occasion of the COP21. The prototype was exceptionally stiff, making it highly uncomfortable to wear. Adidas and Parley for the Oceans went through extensive research and development for their project.
(Read also: 5 local shoe brands you can brag about)
Spinning plastic ocean trash into high-performance fibers formed the most challenging task during the creation of the Adidas X Parley, which is made of two kinds of recycled plastics: PET, common to water bottles, and nylon from gill nets. Being relatively soft, the PET plastic easily melts and ductile. The gill nets, on the other hand, were the troublesome part. On the first level, they reeked of rotting fish. The stench was removed easily by processing the gill nets through intensive cleaning. Then, the heavy-duty nylon had to be grinded into powder, after which the plastic was extruded.
Fortunately for Parley, its partnership with Adidas’ colossal capital investment and widespread connections to materials engineers (from the United States, Germany and Asia) greatly aided the development process.
“We are really excited to have Adidas supporting us in this journey and showing how you can take concrete steps in the right direction,” Cyrill Gutsch, founder of the Parley for the Oceans said during Parley Talks.
The sportswear giant reportedly plans to release a product update in the second half of 2016. (sab/kes)
