There’s a lot of talk about sustainability in the fashion world, and while that so often means faux leathers and recycled materials, one shoe company has found a creative solution that kills two birds with one stone—or shall we say fish?
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Italian sneaker brand P448 has made a stylish bid to save the Atlantic Coral Reefs with a capsule collection of footwear made with the skin of captured lionfish, an invasive species that is wreaking havoc on a number of native plants and animals, in the worst cases to the point of extinction.
Aptly titled the Invasive Species Skins Collection, this line of smart-looking shoes helps curb the damage caused to the Atlantic’s overall biodiversity. Comfortable and sporty, the low-top Lionfish sneakers come in a John style, made from white recycled leather with five lionfish skin colorways, including pops of red, royal (blue), bubblegum, silver and black.
Native to the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, the lionfish was accidentally brought to the Atlantic in the 1980s off the coast of Florida. In the past four decades, the local population exploded to reach the shores of Brazil, Spain and everything between.
One lionfish can eat up to 70,000 native reef fish in its lifetime, which leads to devastating consequences. It’s been reported that one lionfish can eat up to 79 percent of the young produced by native reef fish on a given coral environment.
P448 undertakes this mission as part of its commitment to the Lionfish Challenge of 2022, put forth by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conversation Commission. The initiative asks commercial entities and residents alike to take part in a lionfish roundup, with raffle prizes offered as incentives, as if helping protect the natural beauty and biodiversity of our world’s oceans wasn’t enough.
The P448 Lionfish: Invasive Species Skins Collection sneakers are available now at P448's new Le Bon Marché store in Paris, as well as online via p448.com. Shoes are priced at $325 per pair. See more of the eco-friendly and fashionable shoes below, and learn more at p448.com.
Photography by: Courtesy of P448
