Dive Brief:
- Heritage brand Dr. Scholl’s Shoes announced a limited-edition footwear collection Tuesday with Re/Done, a denim brand that got its start selling reconstructed Levi’s jeans.
- The five-piece capsule collection reimagines Dr. Scholl’s Original sandal with higher heels, square-toe shapes and new colorways, including black and red patent leather, according to the announcement. It retails for $295, higher than the Original sandal’s usual price of around $120.
- The team-up follows several recent collaborations from Dr. Scholl’s. Over the past year, the footwear brand has partnered with fashion brands, including Ganni and GmbH, as well as Honey Dijon, an American DJ.
Dive Insight:
The two brands cast the capsule collection as a step toward more sustainable footwear.
The wooden base of the shoes, for example, is made from beechwood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, a nonprofit focused on environmentally responsible forestry. The toe straps are crafted from leather sourced through factories audited by the Leather Working Group, an association that assesses members’ sustainability. One version of the sandal will also be made from Re/Done’s denim scraps.
The focus on sustainability aligns with Re/Done’s stated ethos. The Los Angeles-based denim brand got its start in 2014, when its founders began selling reworked vintage Levi’s. In 2016, Re/Done also launched a line of nonvintage jeans and began working with Hanes to create tops.
“Working with RE/DONE on this collection is an inspired partnership,” Katie Moore, senior director of design at Caleres, which owns the Dr. Scholl’s brand, said in a statement. “Our shared commitment to creating eco conscious style for all and paying homage to iconic fashion brought so much creativity and vision to the design process.”
Other recent Dr. Scholl’s collaborations have also focused on sustainability. When the brand announced a collection with Ganni in May 2022, it billed it as its “most responsible collaboration for Dr. Scholl’s to date.”
For that collection, the shoes’ lining partly consisted of recycled polyester while the fabric was made from organic cotton.
A 2020 report from McKinsey & Company suggested the fashion and apparel industry could use organic cotton to lower its climate footprint. It estimated that growing organic cotton produces about half of the greenhouse gas emissions of growing conventional cotton because the process limits the use of pesticides and fertilizers.
The new collection with Re/Done will be sold online at drschollsshoes.com, shopredone.com, as well as Re/Done retail stores and premium stockists, according to the announcement.