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Exotic animal skins have become taboo in some fashion circles, as advocates pressure the industry to eliminate hides like snake and crocodile the same way many have phased out fur. But one footwear brand using Burmese python skin for its sneakers sees it as a sustainability move.
The Burmese python, an invasive species, is threatening wildlife populations in Florida’s Everglades. It arrived there originally via the exotic pet trade, and given their ability to grow quickly and lay up to 100 eggs at a time, Burmese pythons have had a growing foothold in Florida since the early 2000s. They are now the apex predator at the top of the food chain.
“In some parts of the Everglades, there has been nearly a 100 per cent reduction in small and large mammal populations,” says Dr Kit Carlson, director of the STEM Center at Madison Area Technical College and author of The Book of Invasive Species; according to the US Geological Survey, raccoon populations dropped by 99.3 per cent in 2012 and opossums by 98.9 per cent, while foxes, marsh rabbits and cottontail rabbits “effectively disappeared”. Carlson adds that over 30 native species have been found in the stomachs of Florida pythons, including birds, mammals and even alligators.
Italian sneaker brand P448 is on a mission to be part of a solution for this ongoing problem, and to cast an educational spotlight on invasive species with the latest launch from their Project Sustainability collection: the Burmese Python sneaker. As part of their Regenerative Sustainability programme, P448, which sells shoes on its own website as well as through retailers including Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, says it’s been exploring ways to support the removal of harmful attributes to the environment and put them to better use.
Serving as wearable advocacy for the vast issues they inflict on the environment, this new take on sustainability sees the skins of Burmese pythons repurposed and given a second life in the form of footwear.
Under pressure from activist groups, a growing list of fashion brands and retailers have pledged to ban the use and sale of exotic skins — including Macy’s, Burberry, Chanel, Victoria Beckham, Nordstrom, Nike, Selfridges and more — but is there a loophole for invasive skins?
According to a recent report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), invasive species are considered one of the five most-critical direct drivers of biodiversity loss, and the threat posed by them is “too often ignored until it is too late”. Wanting to be a part of the solution to this environmental crisis, P448 got to work on designing their first invasive species capsule collection in 2022, using the skins of lionfish that are wreaking havoc on coral reefs in the Florida Keys. Because the problem lies below the surface (physically), divers are the only ones witnessing the destruction first-hand, generating a need for broadened awareness of the issue — and that’s where P448 stepped in. A collection using the skins of Grass carp fish soon followed.
“P448 challenges itself to look at sustainability in a different way,” says Sabrina Cohen, P448’s chief product and sustainability officer. Cohen says discussions with various experts revealed a unique opportunity to look at skins of invasive species as a potential sustainability solution. “We see using the skins of invasive species in our footwear as an opportunity to help prevent future environmental degradation, while repurposing existing resources and replacing other materials in the process,” she adds.
Other brands are experimenting in the space: Piper & Skye incorporates invasive python skin in the design of its handbags, while Teton Leather crafts its wallets and clutches from invasive python, lionfish and dragonfish. Brackish uses a lionfish leather inlay in its 18K gold-plated stud earrings.
Mitigating damage requires a firm hand
Questions inevitably arise on the preservation of life, challenging the idea of killing one species to spare another. However, in this case, killing one species spares countless others. When asked whether it’s absolutely necessary that the pythons be killed to help control the problem, the consensus among experts is a resounding yes.
“It’s always hard to swallow that we need to remove a species even if [it is] invasive,” says environmental engineer and scientist Dr Tracy Fanara, but mitigating the damage requires a firm hand. Doing nothing only allows the problem to grow, while relocating a now-evolved species back to where it came from is not an option. Carlson concurs, adding, “invasive species frequently cause tremendous ecosystem damage in a very short time frame, and controlling them is the only realistic way of preventing further loss of biodiversity.”
P448 works directly with a local licensed hunter to obtain the skins for their sneakers. It’s no easy task and can be painstaking work that involves scanning the dense vegetation for the distinctive pattern of the python’s skin, according to Federico Arrosa, a contractor working for the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). While it’s difficult to assess just how many pythons are living in the Everglades, Arrosa estimates that over 20,000 have been caught in the last 20 years in Florida. Anyone willing to wrangle a python can roll up their sleeves to support the cause, and organisations such as the SFWMD incentivise individuals to capture and humanely euthanise the destructive species through the Python Elimination Program. (Launched in 2017, it provides access to python removal agents on designated lands across various counties.)
Carlson says these efforts are carried out with caution and oversight — because if the hunting of Burmese pythons is promoted recklessly, without adequate training or regard for the ethical treatment of euthanised animals, the impact could be detrimental, she says. “If there is a massive influx of inexperienced hunters who are further destroying the fragile Everglades ecosystem, that will exacerbate the problem.”
While the topic of wearing animal skins is one that is likely always met with some controversy, Fanara sees a place for invasive skins if the animal is being humanely euthanised regardless, and if the skins are replacing other (net new) materials. Utilising these invasive skins that would otherwise be discarded as waste, not only creates a more sustainable product, but they indirectly reduce the need for higher-impact materials such as traditional hides, and their “faux” vegan alternatives commonly made from petroleum-based plastics.
Companies like Inversa are bringing invasive skins into the spotlight by developing sustainable leathers made from these harmful, non-native species. Each leather is designed to address an environmental issue, while connecting the fashion industry to a net-positive material. These invasive skins are surfacing across fashion segments, with accessories brands looking to them as a regenerative resource to craft handbags, wallets and even jewellery. Sitting at the intersection of sustainability and luxury fashion, products made from invasive skins are rooted in a common objective: environmental stewardship.
A sneaker with a strong statement
For P448, going from snake to shoe takes months of research, tannery testing and trial samples to ensure the skins are able to be used for a wearable yet durable pair of sneakers. According to Cohen, due to the delicate nature of the skins and because untanned python skin can be very rigid, the most sustainable process to achieve flexibility and durability of the materials is a combination of vegetable tanning and a chrome bath, a tanning process that uses chromium to help stabilise the snakeskin and make it more pliable.
Cohen goes on to point out that reliable tanneries are required to comply with international global trade laws which, for pythons, require CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) management.
The Burmese python iteration of the brand’s best-selling low-top style features accents of the invasive species leather on the front tip, tongue and heel areas, complementing outsoles made from recycled thermoplastic rubber, Global Recycled Standard-certified leather and fabric lining, Evolo-certified suede, organic cotton laces and recycled brass eyelets in the rest of the shoe. The sneaker makes a statement about environmental responsibility and is an emblem of the arduous work and expertise that goes into removing a species that threatens a delicate ecosystem.
In four months, P448’s new Burmese python leather has used a quarter of the 538 Burmese pythons removed from the Everglades over one year. “The main objective for us is to bring awareness to these environmental issues in hopes that the industry can follow some of our cues,” Wayne Kulkin, founder and executive chairman of StreetTrend, P448’s parent company. He concludes: “Any action is better than inaction.”
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