iRi NYC, the whimsical footwear and accessory brand often sported by Gigi and Bella Hadid, is continuing its efforts to produce sustainable shoes with the new Concrete Sprout collection featuring uppers crafted with 100 percent bio-based and/or sustainable materials — the first collection of its kind by the brand.
Utilizing upcycled materials and showcasing the brand’s signature wavy design, Concrete Sprout presents a fresh take on reinterpreting fan-favorite silhouettes from past seasons. The brand explains in a look book how it drew inspiration from the city this time around: “While iRi has long drawn inspiration from the softness and spontaneity of nature, this season explores the quiet poetry of urban decay: painted concrete, weathered brick, and city floors marked by time.”
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With a spotlight on materiality, the color scheme and fabric combination take inspiration from “textures of urban decay intertwined with small ‘sprouts’ of nature through cracks.” One featured style is iRi’s top-selling ERB lace-up sneaker refreshed with upcycled denim and canvas blends; colorways include a two-toned blue option and a customer-requested all-black version. More reinterpreted silhouettes include the Odele zip-up boot, a mid-top style, and the VES high-top sneaker, which features two straps across the upper.
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Concrete Sprout also brings back iRi’s heels, which had production halted in early 2024; now the heels are refreshed with the use of leftover denim fabrics. The Monle pump features a pointed-toe silhouette, distinguished by a miniature version of the label’s curvaceous block heel design, which is also applied to the Ines pointed-toe boot in a taller iteration.
The sneakers in the collection are set to drop July 21 while the heels are slated for Aug. 22.
iRi NYC underwent a relaunch since its 2017 debut, placing an emphasis on more environmentally friendly production and distribution methods.
Yeung spoke to Footwear News in 2024 about the brand’s shift toward more sustainable practices and its upcycling efforts in partnership with Korean upcycling company Cueclyp, which have included creating bags and drink coasters made from leftover fabrics.
“When we first launched, none of our products had anything to do with sustainable materials. But thankfully, once we moved our production to Korea, I was shocked that they have a lot of availabilities with sustainable footwear materials, finally, and they’re not too expensive. Or we don’t have to order 1000 yards of fabrics to actually use them. So moving the whole production site helped a lot to finally incorporate more sustainable materials into our designs.”
In addition to taking the environment into consideration, iRi NYC was also one of the brand’s that celebrated women’s history month this year with charitable donations.