Fashion designers are always looking for new materials to work with. Lately, it' s all about environment-friendly materials - recycled tires, mushrooms, even pineapple fibers! What if you want such a pair of shoes? Thaely is here to help.
This sneaker brand out of Dubai wants to fight the growing problem of plastic pollution. Led by 23-year-old Indian businessman Ashay Bhave, they may have found a winning approach: making shoes out of plastic grocery bags. " Thaely " means " plastic bag " in the Hindi language.
" I was looking to create footwear that is cost-effective and safe for the environment, " Bhave said in an interview with a newspaper. " I needed to come up with something that uses recycled plastic without creating any more plastic waste. " Plastic bags were the perfect solution. He said five trillion plastic bags are used around the world each year. " I was motivated to find a solution to this problem, " Bhave said.
That solution was the fiber called ThaelyTex. Made entirely from plastic bags, the material looks and feels like leather. That sounds promising. Better yet, the production process requires no additional chemicals and produces no poisonous by-products. The result is a smart-looking pair of white low-top sneakers.
Bhave wouldn' t expose the full process for making ThaelyTex, but he said that each pair of shoes was made from up to 15 plastic bags and 22 plastic bottles. Where do they get the materials? Bhave told Elle that was the hardest part. " The biggest challenge we faced was right at the first step of acquiring the plastic bags. "
Finally, they got help from TrioTap Technologies, a waste management plant. Bhave said they offered to collect the bags and also process them into ThaelyTex.
So far, it seems like things are falling into place. There are already hundreds of pre-orders in place. It sounds like they have some plans for the future. " We have a few more colors coming up, " said Bhave. They also plan to put out a high-top model and bring in a line of clothing. Let' s hope their growth is also friendly to the environment.
