The new AG model from the luxury brand Osklen was developed to create the least environmental impact. In each pair tires, cork, rice straw, sugar cane, cotton waste.
"A luxury brand today is nothing without a clear vision and principles. Social and environmental action and awareness should be at the heart of every modern brand in which aesthetics and aesthetics meet and merge." The mantra is from Oskar Metsavaht, founder and Creative Director of Osklen.
Created in 1989, the Brazilian brand recently launched a new model of sneakers that it called Osklen AG, which, in a single pair of sports shoes, manages to combine several more environmentally friendly materials. The creation was created in Rio de Janeiro and is made with sustainable ingredients sourced in Brazil.
"It's not just today that a more conscious relationship with the planet inspires us to research and create products that can be a more sustainable option for our customers. For over 20 years we have been pioneeringly dedicated to the purpose of sustainability, incorporating our style and design into ethical products that inspire more and more people to adopt a more balanced and conscious life," explained Metsavaht, founder and Creative Director of Osklen, in a statement quoted by the Eco Online portal.
In addition to creating a lower environmental impact, the Brazilian brand's goal is to promote the forest economy and help needy societies in Brazil. The new "Osklen AG model encourages the use of new sustainable materials, with guaranteed origin, transparency, traceability and profit generation for riverside and indigenous communities", Oskar Metsavaht also stated, assuring: "For the development of this line we gathered the best socio-environmental practices to create the most sustainable sneaker possible".
To produce each pair of Osklen AG sneakers, tires, cork, rice straw, sugar cane, waste cotton yarn and canvas are reused. The brand's new creation contains a fabric known as Eco Lona, made from recycled cotton and waste fibers mixed with cotton, and also uses certified bovine leather with guaranteed traceability.
The use of recycled cotton reduces the amount of water in the production process, helps preserve groundwater tables, and avoids CO2 emissions. And the certification of the leather allows full traceability, ensuring that the cattle are not sourced from deforestation areas.
In the sole, the shoe has an innovative and exclusive combination based on sustainable materials: 45% of natural latex from the Amazon (sustainably harvested from Amazonian rubber trees) and 10% to 20% of recycled materials such as recycled rubber, discarded tire dust, rice straw, and cork. The insole, on the other hand, is made with green EVA material, produced with 70% from sugar cane planted and grown in Brazil.
The brand says that green EVA captures 2.51 kg of CO2 for every kg produced, plus 80% of the energy used in the production process comes from renewable sources.
In 2019, Osklen purchased 44% of the latex volume produced by the Cantinas Network - a project responsible for the production and marketing of local ingredients, an activity that helps protect more than 8 million hectares of indigenous lands and conservation units threatened by deforestation and illegal logging.
"[Osklen AG] symbolizes the adoption of an attitude in favor of a more sustainable life, in which the consumer can take the lead in changing the profile of consumption, making it an act in favor of sustainable human development," concluded the brand founder.