the world's most rubbish sneakers by effekt footwear are made of 90% waste

‘alchemy-X’, the first sneaker by austria-based start-up effekt footwear, contains more than 90% ocean plastic, and recycled fashion industry waste. on a mission to clean the planet and to create everyday footwear that leaves a positive footprint, the designers launch the first model to the market. after spending 18 months researching materials and designs, they sought to create ‘the world’s most rubbish sneakers’, blending modern-day alchemy with upcycled waste materials. all images courtesy of effekt footwear

‘alchemy-Χ’ is made from 90% recycled material

inspired by medieval chemists trying to turn scrap metal into gold, effekt footwear tap into ’21st century alchemy’ to turn waste materials into sneakers. beyond creating sustainable sneakers, the designers aim to create value from waste products while promoting the circular economy. constructed from reclaimed ocean plastic, recovered footwear industry waste, and recycled textiles, the sneakers are hand-made in portugal, merging new world materials with old-world handcraft.plastic bottles from the ocean and waste from the portuguese footwear industry are turned into low impact footwear

essentially, this project is a social experiment into consumer sentiment regarding the reuse of materials to create highly desirable products. the start-up wishes to re-purpose more than 1000 kg of waste through their first crowdfunding campaign with an aim of promoting upcycling as a legitimate purpose in the fashion and footwear industry.promoting the circular economy through the ‘effekt collekt’ take-back program with end-of-life sneakers inspired by medieval alchemists, they use ’21st century alchemy’ to turn waste material into sneakers

project info:

name: alchemy-X

designer: effekt footwear

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina petridou | designboom