Fashion for Good Launches “The Next Stride” Project

Fashion for Good has officially launched The Next Stride: Bio-Based Materials for Footwear Soles, a 12-month initiative designed to transform the $400 billion footwear industry by rethinking one of its most impactful elements: the sole. The project, announced on 18 September 2025 in Amsterdam, brings together global leaders adidas, Target, and Zalando, along with innovators Algenesis Labs, Balena, Evoco, KUORI, and Yulex, to validate bio-based polymers as sustainable, high-performance alternatives to fossil fuel–derived materials.

The sole, which makes up nearly 40% of a shoe’s mass, is typically made from polymers like PU, TPU, EVA, and rubber. These materials are difficult to recycle, significantly contribute to microplastic pollution, and are responsible for most of a shoe’s carbon footprint. For instance, an average synthetic running shoe produces around 14 kg of CO₂, with 97% of this impact linked to raw material processing and manufacturing. Rethinking soles, therefore, offers the most critical opportunity to reduce the industry’s environmental burden.

Through The Next Stride, Fashion for Good and its partners will rigorously assess new-generation bio-based materials. The program involves material testing, performance mapping, and prototype validation in collaboration with SATRA to ensure functionality matches or surpasses conventional options. Insights will also guide a larger adoption roadmap, addressing scalability, feedstock supply, end-of-life solutions, and required infrastructure.

“The Next Stride is a critical, collaborative intervention to de-risk the widespread adoption of high-performance bio-based alternatives for footwear soles. By transforming the foundation of the shoe, we target its most impactful component and pave the way for systemic change in the industry,” stated Katrin Ley, Managing Director, Fashion for Good.

Gudrun Messias, Director of Sustainability at adidas, emphasized: “For adidas, sustainability and performance go hand in hand. With The Next Stride, we will work with innovators to test whether bio-based materials can lower the environmental impact of soles while meeting the high-performance expectations of athletes and consumers.”

Pascal Brun, VP of Sustainability and D&I at Zalando, added: “Consumers aspire for sustainable choices. The Next Stride brings the right partners together to reimagine the sole — the foundation of every shoe — and set new benchmarks for the industry.”

The project signals a decisive move toward circular, bio-based innovation in footwear, marking a turning point for the industry’s sustainability journey.