Tim Brown reckons: “If you can put a man on the moon, you can learn how to make a T-shirt with net zero carbon impact. You just need to commit.”
That mindset has resulted in a wealth of product innovations: everything from Allbirds’ initial sneaker, made with a knitted wool , to its patented “Sweetfoam” technology, which uses sugar cane instead of plastic polymers as the shoe’s base., who co-opted them as a kind of uniform when the company started in 2015.opined in 2020. Fans include Larry Page, Barack Obama and a roll call of Hollywood celebrities. Made without logos, they speak volumes about the wearer: I know fashion.
“I’m a soccer player – who is also a designer – who saw an opportunity to make shoes differently.” Brown, right, with Zwillinger.Of course, environmental and social governance guidelines are par for the course for start-ups, but Brown says he saw an opportunity to bring new benchmarks. Before the company’s IPO, it enlisted a panel of environmental experts to outline 19 individual criteria for ESG. The idea? To hold the business accountable for its sustainability plan to its shareholders.
That’s good for the bottom line, but it’s also good for the planet: not having any surplus stock is core to Allbirds’ sustainability credentials. Indeed, according to, the average clothing and apparel brand has a full-price sell-through rate of 60 per cent – meaning one-fifth of its products are never sold, or are sold at discounted prices.