Every season, Stella McCartney’s collaboration with Adidas gets more and more sustainable. A whopping 70 percent of the Spring 2019 collection, which drops in stores today, is made from recycled polyester; 50 percent of that statistic comes from footwear alone. Shoes are the strongest category for Adidas by Stella McCartney, and when you consider how often an athlete picks up new sneakers—for runners, it’s as often as every three months—that’s a wise place to focus. “What’s the point of putting the majority of your sustainability [efforts] into another category if you know you’re going to sell more shoes?” McCartney said on a phone call. “We have to focus on those numbers so we can have the biggest impact on the planet.”
The standout sneaker of Spring 2019 was the Alphaedge 4D, made with cutting-edge 4-D technology. It had a rigid, 4-D-printed lattice sole with a black knit upper, and was made with “practically zero waste,” according to McCartney. “It’s new technology that’s never been used for women in performance wear or athleisure.” There was new technology in the clothes, too, from the low-waste woven jackets to a group of leggings and tops that utilized Lycra Fitsense, a flexible, breathable new blend that contours and supports the muscles during high-intensity workouts. McCartney introduced new versions of Adidas’s signature UltraBoost sneaker, as well, this time made with 40 percent Parley ocean plastic. The color story loosely mirrored her Spring 2019 show in Paris last September—shades of gray mixed with deep orange—and the graphic snake print was lifted from her Resort 2019 collection. That crossover between “sportswear” and “ready-to-wear” is nothing new, of course. “Even before I did this collaboration, I was always drawing on sporting references,” McCarntey says. “I think it brings a really fresh energy to a conventional runway show in Paris.” She called out the Alphaedge 4D sneaker as being particularly “runway relevant.” Also cutting-edge: a slick gray mid-layer jacket with a narrow knit body and generous, sculptural rounded sleeves.
