The Degenerate by UNLESS Collective

The Degenerate in off white / Source: UNLESS Collective

ClarusCottonMirumNorth AmericaPliantTextilesTunera

7 MINUTE READ

Nate Tyler

WHAT WE SAY:

A true pioneer in the plastic-free fashion world, UNLESS Collective has once again taken the fashion world by storm with Degenerate, a 100% plant-based shoe that goes harmlessly back to nature at the end of its life.

There’s not much we can question about this sneaker. From its use of NFW’s truly circular materials through to the re-adoption of old-age practices from a pre-plastics era, the shoe is one-of-a-kind. It looks good to boot - demonstrating that ‘sustainable’ design doesn’t have to be dreary. May this only be the beginning.

KEY FACTS:

The Degenerate sneaker is the first shoe to make use of all four of Natural Fiber Welding’s innovative, nutrient-based materials - Mirum, Clarus, Pliant and Tunera, and is the debut product for the latter two. As a result, this 100% plant-based sneaker is designed to be ground down at the end of its life and added back to nature as nutrients, or turned back into raw materials to be used again and again.
The upper is made from a combination of Clarus-enhanced cotton and Mirum, offering a quick-drying, moisture-wicking and warp-knit compatible product.
Mirum is NFW’s plant leather. Made from plants, natural fibres and fillers, and natural rubber, the material is designed to be as durable and long-lasting as animal Leather, but with much less environmental impact.
Pliant is a new form of Rubber created by NFW. Unlike traditional rubber, which uses petrochemicals for the vulcanisation process, Pliant is cured with citric acid and mineral fillers. The material is 100% toxin free and is used to create the outsole of the Degenerate.
Tunera is another NFW material and is used to create the midsole of the sneaker. Made from Cork and rubber, it is also cured with citric acid and minerals, rather than fossil fuel chemicals. The foam material is ideal for midsoles and can be used as a replacement for many EVA and PU foam products, offering elite compression without compromising rebound. NFW says it “maintains its comfort over time far better than incumbent synthetic foams.”
The rest of the sneaker is equally plastic and petrochemical free. The dyes are water-based and plastisol free. The ‘glue’ is a natural latex rubber cement. The thread to attach the upper to the sole is made from linen, and the thread to attach the upper to itself is Tencel. Even the lace tips are Cotton-embroidered, using a cross-stitch to eliminate plastic.
The shoe is made from nothing but plants and minerals and is the first regenerative sneaker we’ve seen. It can be repaired and recycled, and when ground down it will decompose and contribute nutrients to the soil. As Unless stated, “you can bury your shoes in the backyard,” but the degradation timeline will vary, and the shoe will never start to degrade whilst in use.
It must be noted that the product doesn’t have a compostable certification, because it’s too hard to quantify a time frame due to multiple variables.
Instead, the brand would rather customers send the shoes back at the end of their usability lifespan so the materials can be reused or recycled.
Degenerate retails for USD 139 and is available in full and half sizes, in black and off-white colour ways. The materials were made at NFW in Peoria, Illinois, and the sneaker was designed at Unless Collective in Portland, Oregon. The shoe itself is made by cobblers in Asolo, Italy, a historical hotbed of artisanal shoemaking.
Degenerate has a roomy toebox, consistent with lifestyle sneakers, a sole 5mm thick, and a heel lift of ~5 mm.

The Degenerate in black / Source: UNLESS Collective

NFW's Pliant sole on The Degenerate sneaker / Source: UNLESS Collective

DIVE DEEPER:

Designing a shoe completely free of oil products has a worldwide impact. There were 22.2 billion pairs of shoes produced in 2021, which is actually a drop from pre-covid manufacturing. And pretty much all of those shoes use some kind of petrochemicals, whether the thread, vulcanised rubber, foam, waterproofing chemicals, toxic dyes, plastic-tipped shoelaces, formaldehyde-tanned leather, or other components.
Unless is a fully plastic-free streetwear brand, and no compromises were made when designing the sneaker - no mean feat when considering the wealth of shoes mentioned above.
As with everything it does, the starting point for the shoe was ensuring Unless was responsible for the end of its life, and it wasn’t pushed onto the consumer, municipalities or the environment. The brand previously explored recycled plastic materials and recycling of plastics as solutions to this problem, but quickly realised this only serves to postpone the inevitable. Considering all products end up in the ground someday, the brand sought to find a material partner specialising in materials that safely decompose when they do.
Enter NFW, and its range of naturally circular materials. While both Mirum and Clarus were ready to go when the two companies met, solutions for the sole and cushioning of the shoe were not. Working together led to the birth of Tunera and Pliant, replacements for petrochemical foam and rubber that can be used for modern-day sneakers, today.
The end-of-life of the Degenerate is facilitated entirely by the brand through its take-back scheme, which enables consumers to send back any Unless products for repair, recycling or industrial composting. The brand works with third party experts for repairs, and sends the shoe back to NFW for recycling, where it either grinds it up to make new materials, or mixes it with the earth to create new soil products. For other products, the company is working with a composting facility in California to return its clothes to the earth.
To send an item back, a consumer simply enters a code from the item’s tag online and follows the instructions. Due to the durability of Unless apparel, the brand is yet to receive any item through this scheme.
The Unless definition of regenerative fashion goes beyond a ‘return to nature’ approach, with the quality and durability of a product just as important, ensuring it has a long, useful life. To guarantee the Degenerate sneaker lived up to this expectation, the brand reached back in time, to old school shoe making techniques used in the pre-plastics era, to relearn how to make shoes without industrial strength glues, nylon threads, thermo-plastic backers and even aglets.
Unless states that it follows all EU standards for environmental and worker rights, and that it is proud to be a leader in all areas of regenerative fashion, not just environmental sustainability.
Unless Collective was awarded the Rebel award at the 2023 Green Fashion Carpet Awards in Los Angeles for its pioneering approach of "bringing together innovators, engineers, artists and activists to solve serious issues in the fashion industry on over production, plastics, waste and environmental impact."

"Regenerative fashion means taking complete responsibility for the end-of-life of everything we make, so it can be returned safely to the elements and used to birth something entirely new. It also means making products of the highest quality so it can live a long, useful life."

UNLESS Collective

Key Design Considerations:

Create new solutions

The devil was in the detail for Unless, with elements such as lace tips proving a complicated problem to solve. The resulting cotton embroidery, while time consuming, is a unique solution to an industry-wide issue that should be adopted en masse. Plastic-free fashion is a space open for experimentation and new ideas, embrace it.

Democratised access

The launch of the Degenerate has proven that both the NFW materials and the production process is scalable, but Unless took it further. At USD 139, the sneaker is reasonably priced and competes with other high-street sneaker brands. So many products made with sustainability in mind are not affordable for the masses. Unless proves this doesn’t have to be the case.

Be wary of the term compostable

While the Degenerate does technically decompose, the term compostable is not used in its branding. This is because compostable means different things to different people. For example, the State of California doesn’t recognise oak trees as compostable because it takes too long. If it can’t be quantified, and there’s no certification to prove it, the word should be avoided. Read more about this complicated word, here.