Stella McCartney x adidas Wmns Earthlight 'Core Black'
Colorway: Core Black/Core Black/Cloud White · Style code: HP3180 · Release date: December 14, 2022 · Price: $87 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Stella McCartney x adidas Stella-Lette Slide 'Core Black' (EF2229) · Stella McCartney x adidas Stella-Lette Slide 'Vivid Yellow' (EG1065) · Stella McCartney x adidas Court 'Gobi' (IG2438) · Stella McCartney x adidas Wmns UltraBoost (S81678) · Stella McCartney x adidas Court 'White' (HQ8675)
Most running shoes are designed to a performance target and then made as sustainably as that target allows. The Earthlight inverts the order. Its upper is split evenly between recycled polyester and Parley Ocean Plastic, the yarn spun from waste intercepted on shorelines, and its stacked EVA midsole carries around ten percent recycled foam recovered from production offcuts.
That second figure is the harder half of the problem. Uppers have been made from recycled textile for years; getting recycled content into the cushioning without losing the properties that make it cushioning is where most attempts stall.
The shoe reached shops through the adidas by Stella McCartney line, running since 2005 and spending the last decade moving from eco-conscious styling toward material specifications it can actually state. This core black version came in December 2022 at $180. In a single tone the construction is hard to read, which is arguably the point: a plain black trainer whose entire argument sits in the bill of materials.