Nike’s newest, recently unveiled Tennis Classic debuted a revolutionary, brand new material created by the brand itself—Flyleather. It is supposedly an environment friendly material and stronger than natural full-grain leather. Flyleather rescues the scraps from leather cutting (of which up to 30% of the hide is lost) and transforms it into fibers that are then mixed half and half with other synthetic fibers in a pressurized hydro process, making it more consistent than natural leather in thickness and pigmentation. And though the look and feel is just like premium full-grain leather, it uses 90% less water to produce and results in an 80% lower carbon footprint compared to traditional leather manufacturing. Not only is it 40% lighter than traditional leather, it is also five times more durable.
