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Before entering into the details of the new uplifting version of the adidas shoes, let's take a look at the context: in recent years, adidas has spearheaded three major initiatives: Parley, Futurecraft and Speedfactory. Through a partnership with Parley, the adidas shoe and apparel line, made up mostly of recycled plastic from the oceans, marks a turning point in the brand's environmental awareness. Before Parley works with a company to produce a product, it requires a commitment on the part of the company, essentially indicating its plan of action to implement less plastic in its production process . The Parley initiative has paid off for adidas: this collaboration has resulted in the creation of a product in the hands of consumers and has allowed Adidas to position itself as a fashion company that is at least sufficiently concerned about the environment.
Then come Speedfactory and Futurecraft, both of which focus on personalization and innovation with industrial processes. The "Speedfactories" are real installations (the first in Germany) focusing on streamlining the personalization process and creating a unique product based on the needs of each consumer. Futurecraft is the global label of the company for innovative projects, including the production of the Futurecraft 4Ds, a runner with a 3D printed midsole designed in partnership with Carbon. Futurecraft 4D also aimed at personalization, as the 3D printing process provides customized midsoles with specific density placement based on the needs of each user.
Parley, Speedfactory and Futurecraft have been kept separate with some overlap here and there, but adidas has just announced a new product and business strategy under Futurecraft, which seems to combine important elements from all three initiatives.
Futurecraft.loop is an approach to shoe design that needs to be redone using a single material (100% reusable TPU) and without glue. TPU is treated in different ways to create a complete shoe, including being spun, knitted, molded and fused to the BOOST midsole. The process uses SPEEDFACTORY technology, which combines the long-lasting effort with the fast manufacturing of special designs.
Once the shoes are worn to death, they must be returned to Adidas where they are washed, crushed into pellets and made into a material to create a new pair of shoes. The process produces no waste and no material is thrown away.
Instead of launching a new pair of sneakers, adidas publishes a whole system that we are curious to see put in place – hopefully in 2021. adidas has already proven its ability to innovate in the field of materials and to manufacture products on measured at a relatively high price. The real challenge now is to leverage the knowledge gained from implementing a closed-loop, zero-waste system as part of their business model. The proposed system also involves giving consumers the means to return used shoes to the next pair. How will this process be communicated and designed? Will consumers care enough to make the effort to return old shoes? Only time will tell, but for now, 200 testers will have a beta pair to help Adidas simulate the future of the company.
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