In 2022, Puma sent me, along with 499 others including press, brand ambassadors and applicants from the public, a pair of trainers. The idea was that we would wear them for six months before returning them to be composted, as part of the brand’s ‘Re:Suede’ experiment. The project sought to answer some burning questions: could Puma make desirable and compostable shoes? Would people go to the effort of returning them? Could the experiment scale up?
Results were mixed. While the shoes sufficed for a quick walk to the corner shop, they left me with achy, cold feet after wearing them for over eight hours in a field at a festival — lacking the support and cushioning I was used to. Made from hemp, cotton, suede and a synthetic sole designed to biodegrade, the shoes were light on structure and 57 per cent of wearers said they were uncomfortable to wear.