Sustainable running shoes with bloom algae EVA soles
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AFEW aims to use the shoe as a canvas for future improved designs, until they create a 100 per cent sustainable shoe
Spotted: Germany-based trainer retailer AFEW has announced it will be launching its very own environmentally-conscious trainer.
The trainer, which is named Yamasura, features a midsole made out of algae EVA and an upper made from vegan and recycled materials. Yamasuma is part of AFW’s Goods collection of apparel and was designed to create a more environmentally conscious trainer.
After they had the opportunity to work on numerous collaborations with various brands (Diadora V7000 “Highly Addictive” and ASICS GEL-LYTE III “Koi” amongst them), the AFEW told Highsnobiety they realised that the possibilities of collaboration were very limited and that they could have an even bigger creative output.
Whilst the team set out to create a 100 per cent sustainable shoe, they admitted that they haven’t quite achieved that just yet. The team hopes to use Yamasura as a canvas for future creative projects and to continue to improve the design.
The entire shoe is made in Europe. The upper is produced by a small factory in Portugal. A white mesh covers the toe box, with yellow details layered over the suede cover and the shoe’s name is embroidered on the lateral side. The shoe comes in Black, Dark Grey and Soil Brown.
As for the soles, they are produced in Portugal by ForEver, a company that makes Bloom Algae EVA midsoles. “One of the biggest challenges was to find a producer in Europe to make the sole because nowadays, all soles are almost produced exclusively in Asia,” AFEW co-founder Andreas Biergen told Highsnobiety.
The shoe also comes in eco-conscious packaging, with the box being made from 100 per cent recyclable paper.
After 11 sample runs and almost three years in the design process, AFEW Yamasura is set to be released on July 31 in very limited numbers, for the price of €210.
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