Shoes made from seaweed and leather scraps? This is not your typical ECCO shoe - nevertheless, it is the result of a cooperation between Design School Kolding and ECCO. The outcome of this cooperation is a sneaker made 100% by reusable materials, the ECCO SEALO, which is nominated for a Danish Design Award.
”ECCO has always produced quality shoes with a longer life cycle than regular throw-away fashion items, even long before sustainability was a topic on the global agenda. But the importance of sustainability is ever-increasing,” says Liam Maher, Global Creative Director of ECCO Sko A/S.
Long-standing partnership
ECCO and Design School Kolding have a long-standing partnership to develop young designers, and this semester, the students set out to create a shoe collection concept that sets new standards for sustainability in the production of quality shoes, inspired by Danish traditions and culture.
The ECCO SEALO is based on a classic ECCO sole and an upper made from leather scraps from ECCO’s shoe production.
“We have considered sustainability in all aspects of the shoe,” says Silke Foged, one of the five design students behind the shoe. “Instead of a shoe box, the shoes would be sold in a hemp bag which can be used as a purse afterwards. To protect the shoes, they would be wrapped in a piece of carton on which we have illustrated the circular sustainability approach to the consumer.”
Perfect match
The sustainable approach is a perfect match to ECCO that highly values the input from the future designers and their creative minds. ECCO’s Global Creative Director is pleased with the cooperation which has landed Design School Kolding and ECCO in the finals of the Danish Design Awards.
”The students are a reminder to us that when push comes to shove, it is up to us to be creative. They come to us with new priorities, values and experiences, and their reality reflects questions about gender norms, the digital world, culture, and pop culture in a completely new way. It gives us a new optimism. If our industry and brand end up with the likes of them, we have a bright future ahead,” says Liam Maher.
Nominated in the Visionary Concepts category
ECCO SEALO is nominated in the Visionary Concepts category. The award will be presented on 13 May 2019. The jury said about the project: ”The reuse of materials is just as important for shoes as it is for clothes. On a yearly basis, about 300 million shoes are disposed. The cooperation between ECCO and Design School Kolding aims to address the problem seen from a design and trade point of view and is an important factor in the development of long-term solutions."
About ECCO
ECCO is one of the world’s leading shoe brands, combining style and comfort. ECCO’s success is built on products with a great fit and top-quality leathers. ECCO is a highly responsible company that owns and manages every aspect of the value chain from leather and shoe manufacturing to wholesale and retail activities. ECCO’s products are sold in 99 countries from over 2,250 ECCO shops and more than 14,000 sales points. ECCO is family-owned, founded in Denmark in 1963, and employs 21,300 people worldwide.