World's first shoes 3D printed from old clothes

For the first time, recycled textiles have been used as raw material to make 3D printed shoes. The project is paving the way for new, locally-based and personalized fashion production.
- The demand for more sustainable products is huge. There is no question that people will want to buy these shoes if we put them on the market," says designer Chris Margretts from The Sole Theory.

No fewer than 40 million pairs of shoes are imported into Sweden every year. Production often takes place in Asia with a high environmental impact. At the same time, large quantities of used textiles are incinerated in Sweden. When Chris Margretts started thinking about how to counteract the waste of resources, he came up with the idea of using fibers from discarded textiles to make new and locally produced shoes.

- The huge amounts of materials from East Asia, not least in the form of clothes and shoes flown here, have a huge carbon footprint. Then it just ends up in the garbage. The big thing we're doing is recycling textile material to make shoes through 3D printing.

Smart from an environmental perspective
Calculations show that the environmental impact can be reduced by up to 95 percent per shoe. The material from which the shoes are printed, the filament, consists of shredded textile fibers from Wargön Innovation's test and demo facility that have gone through Stockholm University's recycling process for processing and on to the company Add North, which in turn added polyester. Last in the production chain is the company ZYYX Labs, which develops state-of-the-art 3D printing machines.

- We believe that the 3D printer will become a tool much like the computer for an engineer in the future and are focusing on business solutions that are technically applicable and can help customers. In this case with textile fibers involved, I would have expected more stops, but the result was rather plus, plus, says Tomas Bengtsson, CEO, at ZYYX Labs.

Radical system innovation
The shoe project initiates a radical system innovation that could be a potential game changer for the fashion industry. 3D printing shoes using textile waste as a raw material is a first step, but the technology can also be used to 3D print other types of consumer goods and components in the manufacturing industry.

- Traditional production will remain, but there will be an alternative with 3D printing shops and recycling drop-off points. "You will be able to take last season's fashion to one place and recycle the material for today's outfit at another," says Chris Margretts. In addition, the number of components in a pair of shoes could be reduced from between 20 and 30 today to perhaps 2 or 3, which would make recycling much easier, he continues.

3D printing and body scanning
Chris Margretts and the other partners in the project now hope to continue with the development of 3D printed shoes using textile raw material but also other bio-based materials.

During stage one of the project, they identified several areas for improvement and development. In the future, it could be about moving from a simple sandal to producing more advanced products.

- Eventually, we might be able to make sneakers. But what is clear is that 3D printing can be used to create personalized shoes on demand, where people can scan their feet to get the perfect fit. The next steps include how we can integrate 3D body scanning into production.