Footwear Insight

W e commissioned MESH01 to survey 113 active U.S. men and women aged 18 to 55, with an average age of 38, to see how much sustainability concerns played into their footwear purchasing behavior, and the results were illuminating. Per the survey, 84 percent of respondents said the use of eco-friendly materials was either "very" or "somewhat important" in their choices. As one respondent, a 31-year-old female, put it: "All companies should be making a great effort to use eco- friendly materials." Also surprising? That 78 percent of respondents said they were willing to pay more for shoes that were made with greener materi- als. How much more? Maybe more than you think: 33 percent of respondents said up to $10 more, and 29 percent said they'd pay up to $25 more per pair. One thing was clear from the survey results: Consumers have a more nuanced understanding of the different environmental factors that go into "green" than they're sometimes given credit for. When asked what product attributes attracted them, the most popular answer was recycled content, but it wasn't the only thing shoppers looked for. Natural materials like wool, cork and natural rubber were favored by 66 percent of respondents. "I have found that natural materials perform better than any manmade material I have tried so far," a 52-year-old consumer said. Lower-impact leathers were flagged by 37 percent of shoppers, and 43 percent said they sought out brands and products who pursued carbon offsets as part of their sustainability strategy. And some go even further, like one 32-year-old survey taker, who responded, "I look at the brand and what they are doing as a whole to march toward a more sustainable brand [position] — less water usage, ethical sourcing of materials, etc." So what does green footwear look like today? On this page, we high- light some products that check the boxes consumers are looking for. — By Jennifer Ernst Beaudry Yes, Consumers Want Green SUSTAINABILITY THE FOOTWEAR EYE footwearinsight.com September/October 2019 ~ Footwear Insight • 19 We asked shoppers how sustainability impacts their footwear purchases, and the answers are illuminating. MATERIALS + METHOD: Adidas' $300 ALPHAEDGE 4D Parley for the Oceans shoe marries the brand's 3-D printing technique (3D printing means no scraps) and its partnership with Parley for the Oceans for the plastic ocean waste recycled in the upper. NATURAL: The outsole color is new (Glerups is launching black rubber outsoles for fall '19) but it's sticking close to its roots with the all-wool upper on the $155 Black Rubber Sole Low Boot. RECYCLED: Nike's $160 Zoom X Vista Grind urban running style takes production scraps from the Zoom X running shoes and makes them part of the Vista Grind's bouncy midsole. LOW-IMPACT LEATHER: Timberland is one of the found- ing members of the Leather Working Group, a multi-stake- holder group that works on transparency and environmental standards in the leather indus- try. Since 2010 the brand has only used leathers from suppli- ers that have achieved the silver or gold ratings, like on the $190 Sienna High boot for women.

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