Fashion for Good has announced the launch of The Next Stride: Bio-Based Materials for Footwear Soles, which is a 12-month project set to transform the $400 billion footwear industry by reimagining one of its most impactful components – the sole.
In partnership with adidas, Target, and Zalando, alongside leading material innovators Algenesis Labs, Balena, Evoco, KUORI, and Yulex, the initiative will test and validate bio-based polymers as high-performance alternatives to the fossil fuel–derived materials that dominate footwear production. By focusing on the sole, The Next Stride aims to accelerate the industry’s shift towards scalable, circular solutions.
At the heart of footwear’s environmental impact lies a critical component: the sole. They are made primarily from fossil fuel–based polymers such as PU, TPU, EVA, and rubber, and recycling options for these materials are currently minimal at scale, making circular solutions difficult to achieve.
For example, a typical synthetic running shoe carries a carbon footprint of around 14kg CO₂³ (about the same as charging a smartphone every day for five years), with 97 per cent of this impact traced back to raw material processing and manufacturing.
The Next Stride is Fashion for Good’s ambitious response. The project unites an influential coalition of industry leaders to rigorously test and validate bio-based polymers as viable, high-performance alternatives to conventional materials.
The project brings together a comprehensive approach to evaluating and advancing next-generation materials through a combination of material assessments, performance mapping, and testing. It begins with a deep validation of the innovators’ material offerings and the alignment of these with partner performance requirements. Prototypes are then tested in collaboration with SATRA to validate both performance and environmental impact against conventional options.
“The Next Stride is a critical, collaborative intervention to de-risk the widespread adoption of high-performance bio-based alternatives for footwear soles,” said Katrin Ley, Managing Director at Fashion for Good. “By transforming the very foundation of the shoe, we address the most impactful component in its lifecycle and open the door to systemic change in the footwear industry.”
Gudrun Messias, Director, Sustainability Direction at adidas, added: “For adidas, sustainability and performance go hand in hand. Through The Next Stride, we will work with innovators to explore if bio-based materials can potentially lower the environmental impact of footwear soles while at the same time meeting or even enhancing the high-performance standards our athletes and consumers expect from adidas products.”
