In the adidas x Parley collaboration, sustainability is key. The garments and sneakers from the Primeblue collection consist largely of sustainable materials and recycled plastic.
The mission of adidas x Parley
The world needs to become more sustainable. The plastic soup in the sea is getting bigger every day and our carbon footprint has to go down. adidas sees this as their mission and wants to work together with Parley reduce the plastic waste in the sea. In doing so, they make use of Primeblue plastic. This plastic has been recycled and is used in garments and sneakers from adidas.
Parley is an organisation dedicated to protecting the ocean. The environmental organisation is very concerned about the way we as humans treat nature and the ocean. They want to put a stop to this and try to work together with artists, designers and brands to tackle the plastic problem together.
Parley has several projects running including their collaboration with adidas. In 2015 the collaboration was announced and since then things have been going fast. For example, adidas has come up with a product line that completely stands for making the planet more sustainable. Producing and selling clothes and shoes creates a lot of (plastic) waste and this has to be better according to adidas.
The collaboration of adidas and Parley
The Primeblue collection of adidas uses recycled plastic. Parley makes its own yarn from plastic waste. These yarns are then used in the weaving of garments for the Primeblue collection. This way, no new waste is created and the plastic waste gets a second life. The material of the Primeblue collection consists of 40% recycled material.
In 2015, adidas and Parley came up with a concept sneaker. This first concept was the Ultra Boost prototype. The shoe was made of recycled materials and discarded fishing nets. adidas incorporated these green fishing nets into the upper of the model. Reusing these nets is very important. Parley mentions that every year about 100,000 marine animals get entangled in these nets.
The first durable Ultra Boost was made within 6 days. With this, adidas showed that they are very invested in the collaboration with Parley. Since 2015, adidas has been busy. By 2017, adidas had produced 1 million sustainable shoes. Two years later in 2019, this number had increased tenfold and adidas brought 11 million sustainable sneakers to the market.
The Primeblue collection
The adidas collection has a wide range of sustainable clothing and sneakers. The items from this collection consist of 50% recycled material. In addition, Parley has also designed sports outfits with adidas. For example, the New Zealand rugby team played in sustainable Ocean Plastic® shirts. The two brands have also produced tennis, football and baseball outfits.
The Primeblue collection on the site of adidas has items for women, men and children. The clothing in the collection has kept its classic look. For example, the three stripes on the tracksuits have remained untouched. Also, the classics like the Firebird or Beckenbauer have a place in the adidas Primeblue collection.
The partnership between Parley and adidas is only 7 years old. Yet in that short time they have achieved a lot in the field of sustainability.
This year we can expect another sneaker from this collaboration. In October 2021, adidas will release the Parley x adidas UltraBoost 21. Like the other items in this collaboration, this olive-coloured sneaker is made from sustainable materials.
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