Shoe company, Adidas is going above and beyond to become a sustainable company. In November, they launched a prototype of a new shoe called Futurecraft Biofabric. The shoes’ material is made of a material called Biosteel, which is a replication of spider silk and is fully biodegradable. Adidas collaborated with a German biotech company, AMSilk which produces the biosteel fibers. The material is inspired by spider silk due to its lightweight composition. The company claims that it is the strongest fully natural material available today.
Photo Credit: Adidas.com
According to AMSilk, ” The unsolved dilemma of the textile industry is the existence of two mutually exclusive trends: On one side there is a need for ever more performance and light-weight products, while on the other hand the demand for environmentally sound solutions is constantly increasing. With the fibers available today this dilemma cannot be solved.”
Their aim is to mimic spider silk’s anti-allergen, skin-friendly, and biodegradable properties while having a low carbon footprint. The material is made by fermenting genetically modified bacteria, and the result is a powder substrate which is then spun into biosteel yarn. Biosteel is marketed as, “The first high performance bionic fiber with true environmental integrity. This technological advancement is not only useful for the future of footwear, but its implementation can influence the futures in technical textiles, automotive interiors, and furniture design.
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