As the fast-fashion world continues to take its toll on the environment, one of today’s biggest trends is sustainable apparel and footwear. Recycling and vintage clothing have found a new spotlight in today’s push for more sustainable means, and brands are experimenting with new ways in how to reduce their carbon footprint.
A while back, Converse launched the Renew program aimed at utilizing recycled fabrics and rubber in a bid for sustainability. Now, Converse Japan has thought up a new inventive way to put an eco-friendly spin on its footwear: dyeing Chuck Taylor All Stars with food waste.
Teaming up with Food Textile, a Japanese company that specializes in using food waste to dye materials for other brands and its own in-house line, Converse Japan will use some unusual materials to make dyes for their latest line of beloved All Stars high-top sneakers. Using discarded food such as vegetable scraps purchased from farms and the food industry, Converse Japan will be giving them a new lease of life as textile dyes. The duo will work on two pairs; one dyed with juniper to create a fuchsia outfit, and the other dyed with purple cabbage to formulate a cool grey makeover.
Along with using a more sustainable way of dying the All Stars’ signature canvas uppers, the Chuck Taylors are also equipped with an outsole made from recycled rubber and Ortholite Eco insoles, made from castor oil-based polyurethane. The insoles provide a number of technical benefits too, including being more comfortable than a regular insole.
Not only do the Food Textile x Converse Japan Chuck Taylor All Star Hi tackle unsustainable fashion, but they also take aim at food waste. The pairs are set to release sometime this August via Converse Japan’s website for ¥9,000 JPY (approximately $115 CAD) in a “Cabbage” and “Juniper” colorway.
The Food Textile x Converse Japan Chuck Taylor All Star Hi falls under Converse’s experimental and sustainability-oriented Eclab division. This is not the first time Converse Japan has used food-based dyes before. Last August, the label debuted its Eclab collection with a trio of Chuck Taylors dyed using cherry blossom petals, coffee grounds, and the herb Mallow Blue.
