Space Hippie is an exploratory sneakers shoes for men collection inspired by life on Mars—where materials are scarce and there is no resupply mission. Created from scraps, or "space junk", Space Hippie is the result of sustainable practices meeting radical design.
“If you’re going to build a shoe on Mars, how would you go about that? What would that experience be like?” a spokesperson for Nike asked during the Space Hippie press launch earlier this year. “Well, you can only take certain things with you and you’d have to find materials there… There was this kind of thinking about living off the land and making use of what you have. It’s like the hippies… space hippies.”
While space exploration and living life on Mars is one integral aspect of the Space Hippie Program, at its core is addressing a problem right here on Earth.
"Space Hippie product presents itself as an artifact from the future. It's avant garde; it's rebelliously optimistic," says John Hoke, Nike Chief Design Officer in a Nike News piece. "Space Hippie is also an idea. It is about figuring out how to make the most with the least material, the least energy and the least carbon."
Part of Nike‘s move toward more sustainable practices, the Space Hippie collection is crafted from scrap materials reclaimed from factory floors. The Space Hippie program marks Nike’s first foray into circular design, and a radical one at that. With sustainability and environmental consciousness not only becoming more apparent concerns in the fashion industry but also increasingly on-trend, Nike’s attempts reflect efforts that are not only impactful, but scalable.
The four styles (aptly named Space Hippie 01, 02, 03 and 04) are based on pre-existing Nike designs, but the materials used create an undeniably unique appearance, as if they were sculpted from meteorite.
The Space Hippie 04 in Sail and Lemon Venom will be available at all Commonwealth locations and online at commonwealth-ftgg.ph.