Allbirds have launched their first performance apparel collection. Image supplied.
Did you know polyester – which is the MVP of the athletic industries athleisure wear runs on enough oil to power 47,000 cruise ships and spews 700 million tonnes of carbon – that translates to roughly 70 million football fields into the atmosphere on an annual basis. It’s even become a permanent fixture on our ocean floors, with 14 million tonnes of microplastics that break down into smaller and smaller particles but will never fully disappear.
Polyester makes up 55% of all clothing. It’s because of polyester’s cheap production cost that has manufacturers using it for almost everything we exercise in. The result of this is massively impacting the environment in a negative way.
Allbirds believe that our physical fitness shouldn’t hurt the health of our planet, and after more than two years in development, they have just introduced their new line – Allbirds Natural Run Collection.
After 70 iterations to perfect their first performance apparel collection, it was put to the test over thousands of hours and met industry benchmarks for breathability, sweat-wicking, quick-drying, and comfort stretch. Their Natural Legging even proved to be up to 2x more breathable than leading synthetic pairs on the market, demonstrating that natural materials can go toe-to-toe with plastic – and win. But the ultimate test came down to how we measure up against the most important metric: carbon. This is the industry’s first performance apparel line to be labelled entirely with its Carbon Footprint, ranging from 4.7 kg to 14.5 kg CO2e before being 100% offset to zero.
The Natural Run Collection features the Natural Legging and Bike Short, Natural Run Form Tank, Natural Run Tank and Tee and the Natural Run Short.
As with all of Allbirds’ products, they packed the range full of premium natural fibres, designed with carbon consciousness in mind. Unlike most sportswear brands that put their innovation muscle into oil-based plastic or default to off-the-rack synthetic material blends, Allbirds invest in R&D resources into developing low-emission natural alternatives while prioritizing recycled resources to fill in the gaps.
Allbirds are always working hard to better themselves for the sake of the planet so they have a goal to meet, by 2025 to use 75% natural or recycled materials in everything they make, including this collection.
Images supplied.