Sunika the denim sneaker | 2018
WHAT Sunika is a sneaker made out of recycled denim, designed to fit the Axel Arigato brand. The materials are incorporated in a circular economy, making it more sustainable than the average sneaker.
WHY Today’s fast fashion industry over-consume material like never before. Cotton is one of the most common material used in fabrics, which requires high amounts of water, fertilization and has a large CO2 footprint. About half of all fabrics consumed by the average Swede (7.5 kg) ends up in the trash. More than half of that is pure cotton which instead could’ve been re-purposed into new products such as denim products. Denim is a highly durable material, easy to clean and most common in jeans or jackets due to its strong properties. Other potential product categories requiring similar properties would be e.g. shoes. Since the sneaker industry is bigger than ever, releasing new designs and styles every week. This too contributes to the overconsumption of our resources and would benefit by using re-purposed material.
HOW Axel Arigato is a Swedish sneaker brand who are known for their so-called – drop of the week – which means they drop a new style every week. This contributes to the overconsumption of sneakers in the fast fashion industry. I wanted to design a sneaker which would work both as a statement towards todays overconsumption, but also as an action for Axel Arigato to show they care about the environment. By recycling overconsumed - yet great - material like cotton extends its lifecycle and lower the need of producing virgin material. This has positive impact on the water and CO2 footprint of the products.
product design | service design | design research | prototyping | 3D-modeling | CNC-milling |
