Nike Flyleather: the latest in sustainability

Nike Flyleather is Nike’s newest material. It incorporates 50 per cent recycled natural leather fibre. Nike is looking to evolve leather to the performance material that it once was. Think vintage Nike, but better. 

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Nike has already revolutionized nearly every part of a running shoe. For example, Flyknit was their most recent material for the upper of a shoe. With many companies looking to incorporate sustainable practices and fabrics, it was only a matter of time until Nike came up with an answer. 

While Flyleather has been on the market for roughly a year, the company is now looking to include the material in their high-performance shoes, not just their lifestyles lines. Tony Bignell, Nike VP of Footwear Innovation, said in a press release that, “By opening up the possibilities to engineer performance leather, we are creating a new conversation across performance categories to include materials that have otherwise been retired from the options list for products such as footwear, apparel and equipment.”

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Flyleather reduces the environmental footprint by using scrap leather that otherwise would have gone to the landfill. Nike says, “The scraps are combined with synthetic fibres and a fabric infrastructure via a hydro process with a force that’s so strong, it fuses everything into one material.”

Flyleather can currently be found in the newly released Nike Cortez. The Cortez has become a casual shoe, but was originally created by Bill Bowerman, coach of Steve Prefontaine and other running legends. The most recent model is made from Flyleather along with recycled laces, lining, and labeling and retails for $115 CAD. It’s available now.