Adidas, Allbirds to Drop First Product in Sustainable Collaboration

It apparently takes two to make a thing go right. Athletic goods maker Adidas and footwear brand Allbirds today revealed the first product from their collaboration Futurecraft.Footprint, which seeks to develop a more sustainable, lower-emission design and manufacturing process. The result is a running shoe with a carbon footprint of 2.94kg CO2e, or carbon dioxide equivalent, which the companies say marks a decrease of 63% in emissions versus comparable shoes. "It represents a personal best for both brands as the result of a collective ambition to make a performance running shoe with no carbon footprint," according to a joint statement. The prototype will drop in May as part of a limited release with 100 pairs raffled off to members of Adidas' loyalty program, the Creators Club, with a wider release of 10,000 pairs slated for the fall. Sharing knowledge The self-described rivals noted they are sharing proprietary technologies, materials and supply chains as part of the collaboration, which developed its first product in less than 12 months. The new shoe includes Adidas' cushioning material, Lightstrike, in the midsole, along with Allbirds' sugarcane-based SweetFoam, which it has previously used in shoe soles. In addition, the upper material of the shoe is made with 70% recycled polyester and 30% natural Tencel, a material derived from wood pulp. "Pushing the boundaries of sustainable practices is an initiative that Allbirds was born from and that Adidas has been doing over the last two decades,” Felix Willfeld, Adidas' brand strategy director, told Adweek. “Given our brand’s recent advancements and future ambitions, it made sense for us to combine our capabilities to explore what is possible.” A call to action Alex Valdman, head of creative at Allbirds, framed the marketing approach to the new shoe as a question: "What if you knew that the carbon score of all the products in your closet were equivalent to driving 500,000 miles in an SUV?" This idea alone could "create a new way of shopping,” he added. "We are highlighting an alternative relationship that people can have with products through digital events, process films, campaign TV and photography," Valdman said. "Our aim is to inspire our communities about the potential of sustainable innovation, as well as lead them to ask questions about the carbon footprints of the products they wear and buy.” A sense of urgency It was a partnership first discussed some 18 months ago, Valdman said, with immediate recognition by both parties that they "could do more together than we ever could apart." "Our community is hungry for sustainable options, and it's up to brands like us to provide better products and educate our audiences about the impact of the things we consume," he added. That’s in part because both brands feel a sense of urgency about climate change: "We're simply running out of time," Valdman said. "As leaders in the sportswear and footwear spaces, it's our responsibility to not only make our businesses and products more sustainable, but set an example for the rest of the industry as well,” he added. “Our hope is that a collaboration between competitors like us will demonstrate that we have to put aside the old way of doing business and reinforce the immediacy of this issue.” Willfeld said giving access to their knowledge and resources—such as Allbirds' experience with carbon calculation and natural materials, as well as Adidas' expertise in footwear and manufacturing—is throwing down the gauntlet to other brands in the space. In fact, the two brands are open-sourcing their innovations, Willfeld explained. Allbirds has already open-sourced its carbon footprint tools to competitors. “We know that sharing proprietary information might not make the most business sense,” the brand says on its website. “But the global climate crisis is bigger than business. And if competition got us into this mess, perhaps collaboration can get us out.” Now, the two brands plan to continue to explore opportunities to improve the planning, process and production of footwear, but they declined to comment on whether more products are in the offing.

Sustainability News

Adidas and Allbirds' New Running Shoe Boasts a Low Carbon Footprint

It's the first product from the rivals' sustainability collaboration

Richard Collings

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Richard Collings