Schuh partners to transform waste into store fixtures

British footwear retailer Schuh has partnered with Conscious Creative Unit and waste design studio Are You Mad to repurpose post-consumer waste materials—including donated footwear, returns bags, and pallet wrap—into functional and artistic store fixtures.

The collaboration has resulted in unique donation bins for Schuh’s ‘Sell Your Soles’ footwear takeback initiative and one-of-a-kind shoe risers for product displays, reinforcing the brand’s commitment to sustainability.

Greg Traill, Head of Brand Partnerships at Schuh, emphasized the initiative’s impact, “The footwear industry faces significant challenges when it comes to waste, but we’re committed to being transparent and proactive on our journey to becoming a more conscious retailer. Our goal is to inspire customers to make responsible choices and highlight the importance of re-using materials.”

London-based Are You Mad is a waste design studio specializing in repurposing discarded materials into objects, furniture, and retail installations. For this project, their in-house team of ‘Certified Wastemen’ deconstructed over 600 pre-loved shoes by hand at their East London studio.

Once processed, the materials were handed over to British sustainable footwear designer Helen Kirkum, who transformed them into striking stitched panels featuring unique color, texture, and pattern combinations. These panels were then handcrafted into ten donation bins by British furniture artist and designer Charlie Boyden.

For the shoe display risers, Are You Mad collaborated with Weez & Merl, a Brighton and Hove-based studio specializing in LDPE (low-density polyethylene) plastic recycling. Using Schuh’s pallet wraps and returns bags, the team melted, molded, and handcrafted one-of-a-kind risers, each featuring a distinct marbled pattern.

Launched in October 2019 in partnership with textile reuse experts Recyclatex, Schuh’s ‘Sell Your Soles’ initiative allows customers to donate unwanted shoes—regardless of where they were purchased—in exchange for a £5/€5 voucher. The scheme operates in all 124 Schuh stores across the UK and Ireland, with proceeds benefiting the World Land Trust.