These New Vegan Leather Shoes and Fruity Cobbler Are Made From the Same Things

On April 22, in honor of Earth Day, footwear brand Sylven New York is launching the world’s first vegan sneaker made from apples and coconut. The “Mel” sneaker will be handcrafted in Italy from apple leather, coconut husks, and a renewable rubber made from tree sap. The apple leather, made using organic apple waste from Italy, is a material that has long been used by the brand. The coconut husks and lactate hevea rubber are new natural materials that will be incorporated into the new shoe. The Mel will retail for $275 and will be available in two colors: white with red accents, and black with natural stitching. 

Made with edible materials

As part of the launch, and to highlight the sneaker’s natural and edible materials, Sylven New York has teamed up with Chrissy Tracey—Bon Appétit’s first vegan chef—to develop a custom vegan apple and coconut cobbler recipe, which will officially be released on the April 22 shoe launch day. “We love to play with materials that sound like they could be ingredients,” Casey Dworkin, Sylven New York Founder and Creative Director, said. “It was such a natural fit to work with someone like Chrissy to play even further into the apple and coconut combo.”

The launch comes on the heels of the brand’s announcement that it will become a fully vegan brand by the end of this year. Sylven New York’s current vegan collection accounts for 50 percent of its offerings. The new Mel sneaker will be available on the brand’s website, along with digitally focused partners Garmentory, Verishop, and Immaculate Vegan.