Stella McCartney has launched a trainer for men that uses a system of hooks and stitching in lieu of glues.
Dubbed the Loop, the chunky, dad sneaker–style shoe, which includes a sock-like liner, was an endeavor three years in the making, McCartney said at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit last month.
Glue is usually made from animal bones and “God knows what other body parts,” said the designer, whose aversion to fur, leather and feathers is widely known.
Featuring a recyclable polyamide-elastane upper, the trainer sits on a bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane sole made from renewably sourced materials.
“It’s all biodegradable,” McCartney said. “I’m very proud of that shoe.”
Winter 2018 will usher in a women’s version of the Loop, which will be available in short, ankle and knee-high designs in lace, knit or Eco Alter Nappa, a faux leather derived from polyurethane, polyester and vegetable oil.
Also new for British luxury house this month is a vegan alternative to Adidas’s iconic Stan Smith, which currently comes in only conventional leather.
For years, McCartney hounded Adidas, with whom she has a long-standing partnership that will extend to at least 2020, to create a cruelty-free version of its bestselling sneaker. Once, she even marched up to the head designer of Adidas while wearing a pair of vegan Stan Smiths that her husband had custom-made for her.
“I was like the only person on the planet that had these Stan Smiths,” McCartney said. “And I said to the head of Adidas one day, ‘Look, do you even know that my Stan Smiths are vegan?’ And he didn’t know, and I said, ‘Why are your Stan Smiths not vegan? Because they’re lasting as long if not longer than all the other Stan Smiths that my friends had.’”
McCartney’s “tactics,” as she referred to them, didn’t work, so she decided to create a low-top sneaker, clad in white Eco Alter Nappa, that would fit her exacting criteria.
“So now we have a completely vegan Stella Stan Smith that we’ve just launched,” she said.