Nike has just launched its new Considered family of shoes, designed from a Cradle-to-Cradle-ish Point of View. To create the Considered line, Nike's designers went back to first prinicples, questioning basic design traditions in order to get to a new and better product outcome which addresses the environmental footprint required to source, manufacture, and recycle shoes. Here are some highlights:
- Leather (a renewable resource) pieces are stiched in an overlapping fashion so as to produce smooth internal seams, obviating the need for comfort liners and reducing the shoes's material mass.
- All of those leather pieces are tanned using a vegetable-based process
- Again, to save material mass, metal eyelets aren't used
- The two-piece outsole is designed to snap together, eliminating harmful adhesives and simplifying recyclability
- No use of PVC
- Where possible, materials are sourced locally to reduce transportation energy use
The result? Considered shoes generate 63% less waste in manufacturing than a typical Nike design. The use of solvents has been cut by 80%. And a stunning 37% less energy is required to create a pair of shoes.
Is Considered a perfect example of green design? No, but when was the last time anyone did anything to perfection? I'm just happy to see a big, public company like Nike -- with everything to lose, and not so much to gain -- take a leadership role in trying to forge a new market space for environmentally friendly, socially relevant products. This is a wonderful first step.
The result is a new sub-brand of shoes whose differentiation is rooted not in the multi-million dollar marketing endorsement of a basketball player, but in the physical makeup and design of the offering itself. That's real, and I hope it's for keeps.
It is very exciting to see that Nike built their social responsibility right into the product line, making it easy for prospective buyers to sense a new story behind the brand - and so, possibly, rebuild trust that had been lost. I am inspired to cut them some slack re: their previous labor practice problems and see where this Considered line goes. Very interesting...
Posted by: Andrea Learned | 10 March 2005 at 09:28 AM
Hi Andrea,
Yes, building social responsibility into the product is the best way for Nike to shift its brand meaning.
I work in a shoe-centric corporate culture, and the Considered line is making a big splash... they're certainly getting the attention of shoe mavens!
Posted by: Diego | 11 March 2005 at 07:23 AM
Did anyone notice that they built a whole new line of shoes to promote sustainability? That makes me think that their other shoes are made just the same way as they always have been.
Posted by: Kat | 13 July 2005 at 08:09 AM