Through great ingenuity and forward thinking, Franco Russo, Creative Director of Sergio Rossi, and researchers from the Fraunhofer Institut, have created a shoe replacing the materials usually used for shoe production with sustainable products.

The heel is created using highly compressed ‘Liquid Wood’. Liquid wood is a derivation of the chemical compound Lignin, a component mostly removed during the paper making process and usually discarded or burned for fuel. This means no tree felling is necessary for the shoes’ production. Lignin is also the compound that gives wood its strength. The sole is also formed using liquid wood along with a low percentage of leather waste to issue its suppleness. The heel tip is fashioned from oil and the uppers are made using eco sensitive tanners. The only part that is not biodegradable on this shoe is the pin that attaches the heel tip to the heel.

This epic enterprise of science and fashion is the fundamental example that high-end intelligent design is possible, practical and necessary for the future. The Eco Pump will be launched exclusively in Sergio Rossi stores from June 5th 2009 simultaneous to the global broadcasting of Home, a conceptual film project by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and co-produced by Luc Besson and PPR. Home has been created in order to raise social consciousness of our responsibility toward the planet and its future existence.

Sustainable fashion is inherent to the projected survival of our planet. But more than brands that have simply always been ethically focused, it is important for larger brands such as Sergio Rossi to lead the path in innovative, progressive and intelligent design. Having always been a pioneering brand, from Sergio Rossi’s original collaboration with Gianni Versace in the 60’s on the Opanca sandal, which had a sole that smoothly curved around the foot and merged seamlessly with the upper part of the shoe to create an exquisite silhouette of an extension of the leg, to the innovation that Russo projects with the new Eco Pump, the Sergio Rossi brand is the archetype of the avant-garde. With its sinuous lines and its lengthy stacked heal the Eco pump is far from the bohemian stereotype and all that is synonymous with being ‘green’, but injects luxury into an ethical product, resulting in an eco friendly aesthetically pleasing product.
Part of the proceeds from Eco Pump sales are being given to GoodPlanet.org, a non-profit organisation that works towards developing awareness and education in favour of a more responsible way of living, from an environmental, social and economic perspective.

With this revolutionary technology and principled brand awareness, high-end fashion can begin to shed the connotations of the superficial and embrace the future of sustainable, luxury design.

Hannah Shakir

Sergio Rossi Website