Use and throw away. UEG create products that are designed to to be “ultimately purposefully perishable”. The designs printed on their garments are intended to fade, crack and gradually disappear. The items, made of the paper-like Tyvek material, are guaranteed to deteriorate with wear.

There’s a whole philosophical manifesto behind all this, but I hate nonsense like that, so I can’t be bothered to repeat it. I just like the idea that the product is destined to intentially destroy itself with age.

See the products, and learn more, at UEG.

Creating the “definitive ethical trainer.” Using unsold or damaged jackets from charity shops, scrap leather from car seats, recycled rubber, reused coffee bags, surplus military jackets and re-used jacket buttons, Worn Again are trying to create the “definitive ethical trainer”. Why? As they explain…

The trainer business isn’t pretty. From finding the materials, to the treatment of the people who put them together, to transporting the finished product - making shoes is one of the most resource-intensive, polluting and toxic industries there is.

So if you’re feeling guilty about your sweat-shop trainers and want a beautiful, sexy, guilt-free shoe (my pick is the houndstooth styled shoe); check out the products from Worn Again.

Customise your shoes at a Mongolian Shoe BBQ. Back in 2005 Puma introduced a service that would allow you to customise your own shoe (read Coolhunting.com article for more info.) The service was originally a store based scheme, and unless it was happening in a store near you then you probably wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of it. However, now it’s available to anyone through an online service. So, if you like the 80’s styling of Puma’s RS-100 running shoe, you can now knock out a version unique to you.

Make your own shoe on Puma’s Mongolian Shoe BBQ.