Tell us about the new DEGENERATE sneaker - all we know at this point is you’re making a sneaker and working with NFW materials.

The all-new DEGENERATE sneaker from UNLESS is the world’s first regenerative sneaker – the best shoe for the planet.

The DEGENERATE is built to last, but after you’ve worn it to death, send it back to us and we will return it to the earth. Made only from plants and minerals, The DEGENERATE will harmlessly decompose at the end of its useful life because unlike many sustainable sneakers out there, it contains zero plastic or petrochemicals.

Inspired by our birthplace in the Pacific Northwest, we brought together the utility of workwear and outdoor with the attitude and simplicity of a skate silhouette to create a unique yet wearable sneaker that can handle whatever you throw at it.

We’ve designed The DEGENERATE by slamming a clean, stripped-down upper into a deep cup-sole, creating a strong, modern silhouette with attitude and style. A textile shell allows for breathability and comfort, while a reinforced eye-stay and mudguard provides additional durability and protection. The outsole has high sidewalls, and the footbed is low to the ground for stability, while the rugged outsole permits traction on all surfaces.

What is the sneaker made from?

The DEGENERATE is powered by plant-based technology. We’ve teamed up with Natural Fiber Welding (NFW) to employ a set of revolutionary materials — Mirum, a plant-based, leather-like material and Clarus, an innovative regenerative textile to create the upper of the shoe. For the bottom of the shoe, new solutions had to be created from scratch. We collaborated with NFW to engineer, design and produce exclusive natural rubber compounds - Tunera and Pliant - that are durable enough for outsoles and soft enough for cushioning foams. With a base of natural Rubber, cured with citric acid (and not sulfuric acid) and using mineral fillers (not plastics) these compounds can also harmlessly decompose at the end-of-life.

We’ve developed real-world applications that turn The DEGENERATE into valuable inputs for new soil products, allowing UNLESS to use the decomposition process to birth something entirely new.

Can you tell us more about the NFW materials that you’ve used. Is this our first look at Pliant?

The UNLESS DEGENERATE is the first-ever product to combine all of NFW’s breakthrough bio-based materials to create a 100% plant-and-mineral-based shoe. The shoe combines all four of NFW’s bio-based, 100% plastic-free performance materials with a Pliant outsole, Tunera foam for the internal midsole, Clarus textile for the vamp and quarter, and Mirum Leather alternative for the upper overlays. The shoe also uses low-impact textiles like linen, Cotton embroidered lace tips, coconut husk, Tencel, and thread.

Pliant outsoles are the world’s first naturally cured performance rubber outsoles; sourced from responsibly managed forests and derived from the sap of the Hevea brasiliensis tree. Most rubber materials are fully synthetic, and even natural rubber is typically cured with petrochemicals. In a technological leap forward, Pliant is fully natural and is cured with NFW’s revolutionary patented plant-based curative. This curative means that Pliant outsoles are both recyclable and naturally circular: Pliant can safely, naturally decompose.

Tunera is first-in-kind plastic-free foam — the planet-friendly answer to synthetics in market today. It offers elite-level compression set without compromising rebound. Essentially, this bio-based foam maintains its comfort over time far better than incumbent synthetic foams, making it a sustainable material solution for a broad range of applications from footwear to yoga mats. Like all NFW materials, Tunera is made from natural inputs and designed to safely return to the earth at the end of its life.

Clarus imbues 100% natural textiles with previously-unachievable performance. Quick-drying, moisture-wicking, warp-knit compatible: Clarus makes it possible, naturally. Clarus textiles can be made with either recycled or virgin fibres, closing the loop for a fully circular economy. Clarus runs on closed-loop green chemistry that enables new efficiencies while delivering unequaled performance. It’s a waste-not-want-not kind of breakthrough.

Finally, Mirum is a categorically unique, bio-based material that is perfect for footwear, fashion, automotive, and accessories. At the end of its life, Mirum can be recycled into new Mirum or ground up and returned to the earth.

What thread, glues and dyes have you used? Most thread has a nylon core, for example, so is even the thread plastic free?

Yes, there is zero plastic used in any component of The DEGENERATE (and all UNLESS products, in general). The thread for the side stitch that attaches the sole to the upper is linen. The thread used for the upper itself is Tencel. The glues used are completely plant-and-mineral-based. We use 100% natural latex rubber ‘cement’ to aid in the assembly process. Our dyes are always water-based and plastisol free. The colours of NFW’s Pliant and Mirum are the outcome of the chemistry of the materials, while Clarus is dyed using a water-based, plastisol-free dye.

How did your collaboration with NFW come to be?

UNLESS was started to find a better way — to eliminate plastic waste in the fashion industry. We started by saying that we would need to take responsibility for the things we made, and not push that problem onto the consumer, municipalities or the environment. If we were to take responsibility for the products we make and sell, then we needed to design them with the end-in-mind. We explored many options including recycled plastics as material input and recycling of plastics at the end of life, but we realised that we were only postponing the inevitable of plastic waste ending up in landfills, incinerators, oceans, rivers, animals, food, mothers and babies.

Since all products eventually end up in the ground someday, we decided to use materials that could safely decompose when they did. We didn’t need to look farther than the forest floor to see the answers already existed in nature. If we could source 100% natural, or plant-based materials that have polymer bonds that nature can undo, then our problem would be solved.

We began scouting for material suppliers that could meet our unique needs, and soon discovered the plant-based technology start-up — NFW. Our mission was aligned with theirs, and our capabilities were complementary. We needed a material innovation partner and they needed a consumer-focused brand to showcase our shared vision.

The shoe naturally decomposes, but you don’t have any compostable certifications. Why is this?

Everything we make at UNLESS is built to last, including The DEGENERATE. But inevitably, footwear and apparel wears out. The sneaker will not decompose while in use. It must first be shredded and added to industrial compost or directly into soil. Just like a tree that falls in the woods and breaks down into its original building blocks, which return to the soil, our shoes will do the same.

You can bury your shoes in the backyard, but without the right conditions, we can’t say how long they will take to decompose. We would rather you send your worn out sneakers back to us so we can ensure they will be returned to the earth properly.

How do consumers send used UNLESS items back to you, and what happens to them?

We’ve been executing our Takeback program since we launched UNLESS in November 2021. Customers can enter the code on the tag of their item and we'll guide them through the steps to send back their gear. We take responsibility for everything that we make — and ensure it's repaired, recycled or composted to grow new plants. On every product, we provide consumers with instructions to send product back to us. We are working with key universities and partners to perfect and certify our process.

For our footwear, we will take back at no additional charge and send them back to our material supplier and partner Natural Fiber Welding. NFW will then grind the shoes up and either make new materials, or mix them into the earth to create new soil products.

The compostable narrative can be tricky for the consumer. Many homeowners don’t compost, and industrial composting facilities are rather scattered, plus have varying degrees of success. How are you tackling this?

You’re correct in assuming that at-home composting does present challenges for consumers. That’s why we feel so strongly that it is the responsibility of our brand to ensure that everything we make can return safely to the elements. Industrial composting is a large-scale process that creates the ideal conditions for biodegradation to occur using the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen that exists naturally in bio-mass to generate heat and accelerate decomposition.

We want to make it easy for our customers to do the right thing for the planet so we encourage them to participate in our Takeback program and we will literally do all the work from there to ensure that every product we make is returned back to the earth to birth something entirely new.

You talk about the manufacturing process as part and parcel of regenerative fashion. What does this mean exactly?

For us to create a breathable, light and flexible shoe with enough protection, durability and traction to handle anything a person can throw at it, without using any plastics or petrochemicals, just having innovative new materials wasn’t enough. We had to reach 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.

To tap into these techniques, we went to the spiritual home of artisanal shoe making: Italy. The DEGENERATE is made in Asolo, Italy, which has been a traditional centre for shoe making for generations.

Regenerative fashion to us at UNLESS 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. Quality manufacturing is essential to bringing our vision for regenerative fashion to life.

One reason that fashion is so polluting is because of trends. Clothes go in and out of style and are tossed at the end of seasons, only to make room for the next hot thing. How are you working to design pieces that break this cycle?

At UNLESS, we like to say our villain is the fast fashion industry. They continue to follow the status quo and what they leave behind is a whole lot of plastic. We want to find a better way. Instead of creating more trash, we make products that disappear without a trace. As the world’s first truly regenerative streetwear brand, we invested heavily in making quality products that are built from the elements, to be worn in the elements, to be safely returned to the elements. In order to do that, our products must be made with durability, utility and versatility in mind so you don’t have to sacrifice style to do the right thing for the planet. We want to destroy the conventional idea that style will always become trash. The DEGENERATE brings that concept into footwear for the first time.