eco-fashion

Back April Adidas announced it had teamed up with Parley For The Oceans to investigate creating sneakers from recycled trash. The goal was to demonstrate that ocean debris could be transformed into a valuable material for the fashion industry. The collaboration showed off their first prototype, the Adidas x Parley sneaker, earlier this month at the U.N. General Assembly. The entire upper of the shoe is created from items found in the ocean. The shoe is constructed from ocean plastics and illegal deep-sea gillnets. In fact, when gathering materials, Parley For The Oceans spent 110 days tracking an illegal fishing vessel off of the coast of West Africa and recovered nearly 45 miles of netting. As for ocean plastic, a 2006 U.N. study estimated that there are 46,000 pieces of floating plastic for every square mile of ocean.

While the current shoe is only a prototype, it demonstrates the value that can be realized from items currently damaging our oceans. If you have your heart set on owning a piece of recycled-based footwear, hang tight; Adidas has announced that, through its partnership with Parley, it is committed to releasing a line of consumer-ready products made from ocean plastics before the end of the year. Head past the break for video of the U.N. event.