Few sustainable fashion brands have had the same seemingly overnight success—and universal appeal—as footwear retailer Allbirds. Since launching in 2016, Allbirds has stuck to one core product in two silhouettes: Minimalist, comfortable sneakers made with sustainably sourced wool. Even if you don’t own a pair of its wool runners yourself, you’ve definitely seen them around: Allbirds have become the shoe of choice for everyone from Silicon Valley tech whizzes to New York City fashion influencers like Eva Chen thanks to their Internet-famous level of comfort.
Allbirds is now taking another innovative step forward in sustainable footwear design with a brand new collection, though not in the way you may expect. Today Allbirds is launching a line of sneakers that uses—wait for it—a textile made from tree pulp.Aptly titled the Tree Collection, these shoes fit right in with the brand’s recognizably relaxed aesthetic, but with woodsy origins the make for Allbirds’ most sustainable collection to date.
Some may be skeptical that trees can transform into wear-everywhere shoes, but Allbirds has managed to make it happen. Cofounder Tim Brown tells Glamour that’s because Allbirds’ Tree Collection prioritizes designs that can appeal to even the least eco-minded consumer, all while ramping up the brand’s sustainable production efforts. “People buy products because they’re great, not because they’re sustainable,” Brown says, “so the key is to make the best product that you can and to make it as sustainably as possible.”
For the Tree Collection, that meant finding a remarkably comfortable material that could reduce Allbirds’ carbon footprint. Random though it may sound, Allbirds’ eucalyptus tree pulp formula does the job: It has moisture-wicking properties for warm-AF days, feels cool to the touch, and, knitted into a meshlike material, is incredibly breathable. As for the sustainable side, the numbers say it all: Producing these sneakers takes 5 percent of the water needed for a typical pair of kicks.
“Sometimes when you hear sustainability, you assume a tradeoff in quality, or some sort of sacrifice, or a price premium,” Brown explains. None of those pitfalls apply to the Tree Collection: These shoes are the result of “hundreds and hundreds of prototypes,” says Brown, all while maintaining Allbirds’ minimalist aesthetic and an under-$100 price tag.
Allbirds’ turn to tree materials includes its third silhouette: A pared-back boat shoe called the Skipper. Like the wool runners and slip-ons before it, Allbirds’ latest style keeps it simple. “One of the key insights that’s underpinned Allbirds is that classic footwear forms have been kind of convoluted and overdesigned, and there was an opportunity to distill them back down to the simplest form,” Brown says. “People don’t use boat shoes for sailing anymore. They’ve taken this classic form and applied it to an urban environment. We’ve tried to update the silhouette and the function of the shoe to be a casual, comfortable, fun silhouette for warmer months.”
When a brand nails versatile basics, it can appeal to just about anyone—a fact that Allbirds’ reinforces with each new launch. “[Allbirds have] resonated with an enormous group of people, from the innovation and start-up community in San Francisco to New York, to Atlanta—that randomly tends to be our most successful market,” Brown says. “Every state in America—and now in New Zealand and Australia—[has shown us] almost unanimous support.”
Brown hopes that the Tree Collection keeps Allbirds’ eco-minded momentum going while challenging misconceptions that some shoppers may have about sustainably produced footwear. “What’s fantastic about this Tree launch is that it’s another moment to sort of show that sustainable materials can be used,” Brown stresses. “They can be used not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because they can make better products.”
Allbirds’ New Collection Turns Trees Into Sneakers
