Today, leading voices in fashion gathered during NYFW to discuss the threat of climate change and how the industry can help. Energy company NRG debuted a “shoe without a footprint,” made completely from CO2. The sneaker was created with materials made from repurposed CO2, representing the possibilities the compound can have on manufacturing and particularly, the fashion industry.
Moderator Nina Garcia (judge on the Lifetime show Project Runway) led a panel discussion about the shoe and the ecological impact of fashion as a whole. “We need more innovation in the way we produce fashion,” offered model and designer Coco Rocha. When Garcia posed the question, “Why the shoe?” product management firm 10XBeta CEO Marcel Bohtha answered: “The shoe represents the most eclectic use of materials in fashion.” Though the result is just a prototype, it illuminates the potential of reusing emissions to create products without an ecological footprint. “If you’re a fashion designer, you can help solve climate change, quite literally,” added NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE team leader Paul Bunje, who encouraged industry members to get involved instead of waiting for scientists in “ivory towers” to provide a solution. “It’s quite exciting,” he said.
