Sustainable lifestyle brand Pangaia sees itself mores as an eco-friendly global collective than a fashion label. Pangaia launched its first athleisure collection of comfy, environmentally-friendly clothing staples in 2018, and quickly gained a loyal following, with celeb fans including Justin Bieber, Bella Hadid, Maria Sharapova, Elsa Hosk and Kourtney Kardashian.
The brand is a “materials science” company that focuses on how to help save the environment, using scientists, designers, technologists and more to create sustainable products, and now, Pangaia is launching it’s first-ever sneaker, using repurposed grape leather and recycled rubber.
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The minimalist, zero-waste sneakers come in black or white, and are made of grape leather that is repurposed from waste generated by the Italian wine industry.
According to Pangaia, the global wine industry creates 26 billion liters of wine each year, and in doing so, results in 6.5 billion liters of waste, in the form of grape stalks, skins and seeds. Pangaia used this “grape waste” to create an environmentally-friendly leather alternative, which is what the material they used to make their new sneaker.
The comfy, lightweight shoes are made in Italy, and feature a 100 percent recycled rubber sole, which is made from industrial waste, and natural cotton laces made of 100 percent recycled plastic. The minimalist sneakers are emblazoned with Pangaia’s signature text print, which describes the materials used to make each product.
The shoes are super comfy and supportive; they’re made in an orthopedic center, and have extra support for the arch of your foot. They also feature the “strobel shoe” construction that is used for most athletic shoes, where the upper material is sewn to fabric on the bottom of the shoe with to create a sock-like feeling.
“Pangaia is driven by problem-solving materials science, so we have this innate passion for innovation within this space,” the global collective told Observer. “We worked with a team of Italian stylists to bring our grape leather to market. It is a unique material made with wine industry waste called pomace,” composed of grape skins, pup, stems and seeds. “The sneaker felt like the perfect way to showcase this new material through a simple everyday product and showcase the qualities of the material.”
Each pair costs $245, and they’re available for preorder on the Pangaia’s website starting September 15. Scroll through the sideshow above to take a peek at the new sneakers.