At the Biofabricate Conference in New York on Thursday, global sports apparel and fitness brand adidas launched the world’s first performance piece of footwear made 100 percent from Biosteel fiber and silk biopolymers.
Through a new partnership with German biotech company AMSilk, adidas crafted the Futurecraft Biofabric prototype shoe, which is 15 percent lighter than traditional synthetic fiber materials and also 100 percent biodegradable.
As both companies move forward in their relationship, they’ll look to further incorporate Biosteel fiber in performance products beyond just the announcement.
Get The Latest Sports Tech News In Your Inbox!
“In a year of ground-breaking innovations from adidas, the announcement of our partnership with AMSilk — and the unveiling of the adidas Futurecraft Biofabric shoe — is another step in our commitment to redefining the sports industry,” James Carnes, Vice President of Strategy Creation at adidas, said in a statement. “This concept represents premium innovation. By using Biosteel fiber in our products, we have achieved an unrivaled level of sustainability.
“We are moving beyond closed loop and into an infinite loop – or even no loop at all. This is a pioneering stride forward beyond sustainability into a new territory of bionic innovation.”
Added Jens Klein, Chief Executive Officer of AMSilk in a statement: “The sports shoes which have been developed together with adidas are the first products worldwide with a high-performance material made of nature-identical silk biopolymers.
“With this development we are setting new standards regarding the functionality of renewable textiles.”
In 2016, adidas has released a handful of other innovative products, including the Futurecraft Tailored Fibre and the Futurecraft M.F.G., with the latter being created at the company’s original SPEEDFACTORY facility in Germany.
Over the year, adidas has displayed its commitment to sustainability in addition to its focus on delivering unique products to consumers. In early Nov., it released the UltraBOOST Uncaged Parley, the first mass-produced footwear from Parley Ocean Plastic and waste recovered from the coastal areas of the Maldives.