Hot on the heels of Stella McCartney creating the world’s first mushroom leather clothing; sportswear giant adidas has followed suit, using the vegan alternative to conceive the world’s first Mylo shoe.
For this venture, adidas teamed up with Bolt Threads, a Californian material solutions company that is credited with developing the innovative Mylo fabric. Together, the Stan Smith Mylo has been made from mycelium – the interlaced root structure of mushrooms. It looks and feels like a regular leather sneaker but instead uses the renewable fabric, which can be grown in as little as two weeks.
Global head of future at adidas, Amy Jones Vaterlaus, explains why the brand is focused on working with new cutting-edge materials. She says, “As a planet, we must learn to work with nature rather than against it and put all our efforts into finding innovative solutions that are created responsibly with resources that renew at a sustainable pace.”
The iconic Stan Smith model was chosen to debut the breakthrough technology as it reflects the adidas brand heritage and is already one of their most eco-conscious styles, with some previous models featuring 50% recycled materials. The traditional leather upper has been replaced entirely with Mylo and the sole from natural rubber. Mylo can also be embossed, dyed and made in a variety of textures which opens up the possibility for more elaborate designs in the future.
It is the first sneaker ever to be made from Mylo and, although the shoe is not currently for sale, adidas remain hopeful that it will soon become a sustainable alternative to traditional leather footwear.
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