Leading shoe company Vivibarefoot has launched Primus Lite II Bio, the company’s most innovative sustainable shoe to-date and one of the world’s first plant-based performance shoes. The brand unveiled the highly anticipated unisex shoe on the heels of sustainability research, which highlighted eco materials as a key factor in consumer purchasing decisions. The new vegan shoe is designed with over 30 per cent renewable plant-based materials, including Bio TPU made from yellow dent field corn, natural rubber and harvested algae called Bloom, instead of single-use petroleum materials. The award-winning design is Vivibarefoot’s lightest and most efficient performance shoe yet and weighs on average an estimated 10 percent less than today’s standard performance shoes. The new generation of Vivibarefoot’s legacy Primus Lite style is a game-changer for the footwear industry and represents a major stride for the company towards its goal of using 100 percent bio-based materials in a future iteration of this product. Additional styles and colours of the Bio line will be released in Fall 2019. “The launch of the Primus Lite Bio represents an exciting step away from the industry’s reliance on single use petroleum-based materials and towards a promising future of plant-based alternatives,” said Asher Clark, design director at Vivibarefoot. “We want to challenge the world’s relationship with shoes, the materials they are made from and the impact they are having on us and our environment. Our ultimate goal is complete circularity.” Vivibarefoot’s sustainability ethos is uniquely different from other footwear brands in the industry, as it is rooted in design, wellness and social impact, along with utilizing eco-friendly materials. The company believes product design encompasses doing more with less and creating durable products. Its focus on wellness enables people to move in a natural, healthy, connected way, while maintaining performance and durability. More than 20 billion pairs of shoes are made annually, most from petrochemicals, which have a harmful impact on the environment, contributing to the already serious effects of climate change. The plant-based materials in the Primus Lite II Bio shoe are sourced and managed responsibly, reducing water, energy and CO2 emissions, improving waste water and ultimately reducing their ecological footprint. The release of Primus Lite II Bio follows Vivibarefoot ‘s commissioned consumer research study, which was conducted by an independent research company in April 2019. The study confirmed that most consumers today have different definitions of sustainability but a key focus for them was the use of eco-friendly materials in the products they buy. This is reassuring data for Vivibarefoot, which is on a mission to phase out petrochemicals and use 100 percent sustainable materials in the next two years. “The less you put between your feet and the environment, the better. Just like our other styles, Primus Lite II Bio was designed to let people’s feet do their natural thing, while providing maximum sensory feedback from your body to your brain. The Primus Lite II Bio is not perfect, it still contains significant non-plant-based products, but it’s a step in the right direction. There are many challenges the footwear industry faces in creating sustainable products, and Vivibarefoot believes it is better to innovate for good, rather than to stand still,” Clark added.
