Nike will soon deliver an update to its Tiempo soccer shoe franchise. With the new release, the athletic giant will introduce a proprietary material that will allow the company to move away from the use of kangaroo leather.
“This summer, Nike will launch a new boot innovation in its Tiempo franchise. The Tiempo Legend Elite will debut with a new Nike-only, proprietary synthetic upper. The upper has a new material that is a better performance solution and replaces the use of kangaroo leather. In addition, the Tiempo Premier, also set to launch this summer, will move away from the use of kangaroo leather,” Nike said in a statement emailed to FN.
The statement continued, “Nike divested of its only kangaroo leather supplier in 2021 and will stop making any product with kangaroo leather in 2023.”
Nike’s announcement stating its intentions to move away from kangaroo leather comes on the heels of another key athletic player, Puma, announcing it would also soon step away from the use of kangaroo leather.
At the start of the month, Puma revealed the next iteration of its pinnacle King soccer boot will feature K-Better, a material the brand described as “a completely new, non-animal based upper material” that is at least 20% recycled material.
Puma said in a March 2 statement that this new material has outperformed the previous King K-Leather in testing for touch, comfort and durability, and because of the material’s performance, Puma will stop producing soccer boots with kangaroo leather altogether in 2023. What’s more, Puma stated the new King will also come in a custom women’s-specific fit for female athletes, such as volume and instep height that is engineered for a woman’s foot.
