In Colorado, popular boot brand Timberland has announced a new line of shoes featuring a sole with 75% biobased content. Dubbed GreenStride, the soles were in development for a year and a half, and the biobased content can be attributed to renewable sugarcane and natural rubber.
The new soles will be available in three styles for men and two styles for women, all of which will be waterproof.
“We go through an extensive fit process to make sure [the boots] are comfortable for the consumer,” Erin Bradt, senior designer of women’s footwear at Timberland, told Sourcing Journal at a recent launch event. Bradt added that the “rugged silhouettes” are aimed at making women “feel really powerful and capable.”
The company is also planning a boot designed for circularity in which the sole and outsole can be separated to and passed along to specialized recycling streams. “Design[ing] for disassembly requires natural, environmentally friendly components compatible with take-back programs tasked with converting waste products into new salable goods,” Timberland CMO Drieke Leenknegt adds.