According to Nike, every aspect of the Space Hippie line was chosen with sustainability in mind, from the material to the production methods to the packaging. The “Crater Foam” tooling is made up of a combination of Nike Grind rubber and recycled foam materials. Converse has also made its Chuck Taylor All Star with Space Waste Yarn and Crater Foam.The Space Hippie shoes are assembled using recycled “space junk”, such as recycled plastic water bottles, T-shirts and yarn scraps. The most frequent adopter is Bruce Kilgore’s 1982 design.

The same recycled materials have also been adopted across Nike’s other shoe lines. Just in seconds, upwards of 100,000 pairs of Space Hippie 1 were sold out globally.įor each pair of sneakers, just 3.7kg of carbon dioxide is generated compared to more than 13kg that a conventional pair of sneakers would create. Since the first production season, these sustainability-oriented sneakers have won over plenty of fans all over the world.

Space Hippie is a huge commercial success, proving that sustainability, style and performance can be achieved at the same time. Space Hippie shows great potential for the fashion industry as a whole to make aesthetically pleasing, high-performance products from what we see as 'trash'. This responsible design also gives the sneakers a unique, futuristic touch - just like a pile of space waste being squeezed together with cosmic dust. With upwards of 50% recycled content by total weight, each shoe saves Nike many virgin materials in production. From its sneaker design to packaging, this collection is creatively designed with sustainability in mind. 'Just in seconds, upwards of 100,000 pairs of Space Hippie 1 were sold out globally.'Īs part of Nike’s move to zero initiative, Space Hippie sneakers have claimed to have the lowest carbon footprint among all Nike’s shoe collections. Instead, packing the sustainable sneakers in a box made with over 90% repurposed materials to further cut carbon emissions. Further pursuing the circular concept, the team also replaced Nike’s previous double shoebox. In addition, the cushioned insoles of Space Hippie sneakers are made with Crater Foam, a blend of standard Nike foam and 12% of Nike Grind rubber recycled from manufacturing floors. For each shoe, it’s estimated that 6-7 plastic bottles were repurposed. Around 85-90% of its uppers are recycled from plastic bottles, t-shirts and leftover yarns from some of Nike’s best selling sneakers. Every year, 26 billion pounds of apparel are estimated to be tossed in landfills around the globe.Ĭompared with traditional footwear manufacturing, Space Hippie is engineered with an average of 60% less waste. And, sadly, many of these products don't even last long. Producing a single pair of Levis Strauss Jeans can create as much carbon emissions as driving a car for over 144 kilometres. Not only does it consume many resources that are already becoming scarce, but the fashion industry is also emission-intensive. It takes 2,700 litres of water that could be enough for a person to drink for 2.5 years. Think about a normal cotton shirt you wear. This brings many opportunities to the global economy, but also comes at a price: we’ve spent too many resources on clothing production, which could've been used for other purposes. Over the past 15 years, the fashion industry has nearly doubled its production size. Made from factory scraps, or “space junk” as Nike says, Space Hippie represents a step forward for Nike in sustainability innovation. Inspired by life on Mars, where resources are scarce, Space Hippie is an exploratory footwear collection designed with recycled materials.

Nike space hippie