Puma is looking for 500 testers in the DACH region who are willing to wear the newly developed Re:Suede sneaker. Cara Delevingne and soccer player Raphaël Varane are already among the prominent subjects, according to the company.
This experiment aims to investigate whether a custom-made version of the Suede sneaker model can be biodegraded in an industrial composting plant. The Re:Suede is made from Zeology-dyed suede, biodegradable TPE (thermoplastic elastomers, i.e. synthetics) and hemp fibers. Zeology is a sustainable alternative to existing tanning agents and is based on zeolite, is chrome-free, heavy metal-free and aldehyde-free.
The sneaker is expected to be made available to the 500 participants in May. After they have worn the shoe for half a year, the shoe is to be sent back to Puma. Puma then sends the test sneakers to the Dutch waste specialist Ortesa, where the shoes are tested for their biodegradability under controlled conditions.
According to the company, Puma wants to make the findings from the experiment available to the industry “in order to find better solutions to the common challenges in waste management,” according to a press release.
Incidentally, the participating product testers will receive a new model of the shoe after the test phase, which they can keep.
If you want to take part, you can register until March 14th on the website eu.puma.com/de/de/resuede. Puma then draws 500 people from the applications who are given the shoe. “We want the participants to wear the Re:Suede often and integrate it into their everyday lives,” says Stefan Seidel, Head of Corporate Sustainability at Puma. “This gives us realistic feedback on how the materials are performing.”