The stakes are high when it comes to sustainable fashion, and the UK’s newest addition is set to raise them even higher this week. Allbirds, the San Francisco-based shoe brand that makes its trainers out of eucalyptus, wool and sugar cane, is opening its first UK store in London’s Covent Garden on Wednesday and, if the reaction is anything like what’s happened in the States, it’s going to cause a stir.
Since its official launch in March 2016, the brand has sold more than 1m pairs of its original Merino wool trainers. Leonardo DiCaprio signed on as an investor, praising them as “a model for the footwear industry” and last week it was reported the brand secured another round of venture capital commitment to the tune of $50m (£38m). Following the injection, the company is now valued at over $1bn.
Then there’s the celebrity factor: Oprah Winfrey, Gwyneth Paltrow and Emma Watson were early adopters. They also have political fans. Barack Obama previously seen sporting a pair and New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern gifting a pair to Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, during a state visit.
According to co-founder, and ex-pro New Zealand soccer player Tim Brown there are three key “pillars” to the brand: minimalist design, which he calls “the right amount of nothing”, comfort, and sustainable manufacturing – in that order.
“We really didn’t lead with sustainability,” Brown explains. “For the first two years, it was very much a secondary part of our story and we focused on comfort and design. Only now, with our third material innovation – after wool came eucalyptus and, latterly, sugar cane – under our belt, and having learned a lot more about our impact, have we started to say, this is something we need to talk about more.”
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
