Stella McCartney’s new vegan leather Stan Smith trainers, made in collaboration with Adidas, already have a whole host of fans – including the Queen of Pop herself, Madonna; the singer recently uploaded a picture of herself having the cruelty-free sneakers signed to her Instagram account. Now, in an interview with fashion and lifestyle magazine Harpers Bazaar, Smith himself, a world-renowned American tennis player, has given the vegan-friendly version of the iconic shoe his seal of approval.
Back in the 1970’s, after winning Wimbledon, Smith was approached by Adidas to collaborate on a new leather tennis shoe. Since then, the traditional design, which features Smith’s face on the tongue, has become iconic. According to the athlete, Hugh Grant’s first kiss was with a girl wearing Stan Smith trainers.
Smith is a fan of McCartney, whose vegan design of the shoe includes her face on the tongue, and three lines of stars instead of Adidas’ traditional stripe logo. The designer, daughter of veggie music legend Paul McCartney, is focused on creating a sustainable, vegan-friendly, cruelty-free future of fashion.
“She wants to have all my shoes vegan,” the former tennis star said. “I’m not sure if that’s going to happen or not. But you never know, she has a big influence on fashion and has been working with Adidas for a really long time. This is the first time I’ve shared my face with someone else’s. With her, it’s great. Somebody else might not have been so good.”
Adidas recently revealed plans to use more renewable and sustainable resources in its production process, including plastic recovered from the world’s oceans. However, despite its new environmentally-friendly focus, McCartney explained that the brand still took some convincing to make the vegan-friendly tennis shoe.
“I had to prime them into realising that this was doable, that they’ll last the same amount of time, if not longer,” she said. “Stan Smiths are iconic, they’re rooted in performance and a great iconic tennis player, so they have meaning. They’re timeless, and now that they’re vegan and have my ugly mug on them it brings them into the 21st Century.”
Stella McCartney’s vegan Stan Smith’s cost £235 and are available for order on the brand’s website now.
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