Adidas is charging head first toward the style of sustainability, unveiling last week its Futurecraft Biofabric shoe, which will be biodegradable.

Adidas partnered with German biotec company AMSilk for the innovation, which makes use of silk biopolymers to create a replica spidersilk fabric. The unique fibers are highly soft, smooth and even vegan. AmSilk touts the Biosteel finishing as a protectant against bacterial growth on the surface of the fabric, as well as super breathable.

AMSilk has been producing bulk material on an industrial scale since 2014, however its focus has always been on reliable technology.

The concept shoe was unveiled at the Biofabricate Conference in New York.

The prototype shoe features an upper made from 100-percent Biosteel fiber. The material offers a unique combination of properties that are crucial in performance, such as being 15 percent lighter in weight than conventional synthetic fibers as well as having the potential to be the strongest fully natural material available.

James Carnes, VP of strategy creation at Adidas, said, “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.”

Also recently, the three-stripes unveiled its recycled shoe made from Marine plastic waste. Are we smelling a new trend emerging?

Photo courtesy Adidas