Sportswear brand Puma is distributing 500 pairs of its experimental Re:Suede trainers to participants in a biodegradability project in Germany.

They will wear the Re:Suede trainers for six months before returning them and the brand will then send them to industrial composting expert Ortessa in the Netherlands, which will analyze whether they can biodegrade in a controlled, industrial setting.

“We are excited that we received many times more requests for the Re:Suede experiment than we had pairs available, which shows that there is a large interest in sustainability,” said Heiko Desens, global creative director at Puma. “As part of the experiment, we will also gather feedback from participants about the comfort and durability of the shoes, which will help us design future versions of the shoe, if the experiment is successful.”

Puma’s global brand ambassadors, such as model, actress and activist Cara Delevingne, will also test the Re:Suede shoes, which are made with materials including Zeology tanned suede, biodegradable TPE and hemp fibres, as part of the project.

The Re:Suede experiment is the first project to launch as part of Puma’s Circular Lab innovation hub, which brings together the company’s sustainability and design experts to work on circularity programnes. The recently announced Re:Jersey project, in which Puma is piloting a garment-to-garment recycling process, is also via Circular Lab.

www.puma.com