With “Nike Refurbished”, customer care turns green!

The world of sneakers is in all likelihood the most active sector of fashion, the one that never knows crisis and carries with it a large part of consumerism. Object of desire for young people and adults of any age, it is animated by the wildest collectors who are certainly fascinated by the sense of comfort, but above all by the idea of status that often lurks behind. Added to this is the obsession with perfectionism. Let’s face it, we’re so obsessed now that as soon as we notice a few small gray smudges on a white upper we desperately clean them in an attempt to keep them immaculate for life.

Yet even shoes, like everything else, have an end. And this is where I ask you, what happens to the shoes we no longer use? In fact, did you know that sneakers, although they never know a crisis, nevertheless represent the least sustainable sector in the world, with a considerable environmental impact?

And it is precisely in this perspective that the most powerful streetwear company in the world has moved, launching “Nike Refurbished” today. The project was created to give new life to little used or slightly defective shoes, while optimizing waste and supporting a circular economy. Thinking about it, it is as if customer care was colored green. In short, a smart move within Nike’s reach, brilliant in having accepted the demands of an increasingly attentive and demanding market.

The entire initiative is therefore based on different production processes aimed at repairing shoes. But let’s find out in more detail! After making the return in the physical stores that according to the Nike policy is foreseen in a time limit of 60 days, the company evaluates and analyzes the model according to precise criteria. Specifically, this is a classification that includes three different types of sneakers: “like new”, used once maximum two times after being returned; “gently worn”, those returned within the standard 60 days; “cosmetically flawed”, which have manufacturing defects.

Immediately afterwards they are subjected to the refurbishing process to be brought back to an original, almost perfect state. At the end of this they are inserted in a box that indicates their origin and degree of initial evaluation, and then they are ready to be resold on the market at a lower price.

Unfortunately, there is no information regarding the payment methods once the sneakers have been returned, much less if the estimate of the price depends on the evaluation criteria. As soon as the procedure becomes clearer, we will not hesitate to update you on the matter.

Despite the established criteria, it is not excluded that there may be irreparable shoes, in that case Nike provides for charity or as an alternative to careful recycling with Nike Grind. A cutting-edge system where materials are chopped, collected and used again in the supply chain. The project is still in the start-up phase, only 15 US stores have joined the initiative, but significant growth is still expected with all the stores around the globe. And rest assured that once again the famous Swoosh will not disappoint.

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Irene Larussa

Irene è diplomata in fashion styling presso l'Istituto Marangoni. Di origini calabresi, vive attualmente a Milano. E' alla costante ricerca di stimoli nuovi da cui trarre ispirazione per alimentare le sue più grandi passioni: styling, grafica e scrittura. Il suo sogno è infatti lavorare nella redazione di un fashion magazine.