Allbirds partners with Audubon Society for ornithological Earth Day collection

By

Robin Driver

Published
Apr 16, 2019

In honor of Earth Day, San Francisco-based sustainable footwear brand Allbirds has teamed up with the National Audobon Society for a collection of five limited-edition shoe designs inspired by climate-endangered birds, with all proceeds going to the conservation-focused non-profit.

 
Starting Monday, April 15, Allbirds will be releasing one of the new shoe designs per day over a period of five days. Each model takes its inspiration from a bird identified as climate-threatened or climate-endangered by Audubon’s 2014 Birds and Climate Change Report to create new colorways for the brand’s popular Tree Runner and Wool Runner lines.
 
The collection’s release kicked off on Monday with the Painted Redstart Tree Runner, which will be followed by the Pygmy Nuthach Wool Runner on Tuesday. The remaining models include the Mountain Bluebird Wool Runner, the Allen's Hummingbird Tree Runner and the Scarlet Tanager Wool Runner.

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All of the shoes are manufactured with materials that are natural and renewable, such as eucalyptus fiber, ZQ-certified merino wool, and recycled plastic bottles.
 
“Allbirds and Audubon are tightly aligned in our shared commitment to preserving nature,” said Joey Zwillinger and Tim Brown, co-founders and co-CEOs of Allbirds, in a release. “Our primary goal as a company is to create great products that are as sustainable as possible, and we're constantly looking for partners who are similarly dedicated to environmental causes.”
 
As part of the partnership, the brand and the non-profit have also collaborated on a branded content campaign published in The New York Times explaining the importance of protecting bird habitats.
 
The collaboration is part of Allbirds’ wider commitment to sustainability and conservation, which also involves using eco-friendly materials to make shoes with processes that consume 60% less energy than traditional methods used to manufacture synthetic footwear.
 
The digital-first company, which embarked on an ambitious brick-and-mortar expansion strategy in September, has gone from strength to strength since it was founded in 2014, being valued at $1.4 billion in October of last year.
 
All shoe models in Allbirds’ collaboration with the National Auduburn Society will retail for $95.