Episode 271: Plant-Based Streetwear with Eric Liedtke, Unless Collective
Adidas, needs no introduction, one of the most iconic brands of the past century. Our guest today spent 25+ years at Adidas, his career culminated in serving as the brands’ Global Brand Manager and as an executive board member.
Eric Liedtke was responsible for ushering in some of the most famous collabs ever produced such as Kanye West’s Yeezy and Beyonce’s Ivy Park. And now, Erik has stepped away from all that and started a fascinating brand called Unless Collective. Unless makes plant-based streetwear designed to leave zero plastic waste. Every garment and shoe is, “created from the elements, for the elements, and designed to harmlessly return to the elements.”
We invited Eric on the skucast because we are always on the lookout for radical innovation in the merch and apparel space, and as we’ve demonstrated with our events like Product Summit Sustainability, we consider it an honor to bring the most innovative ideas in sustainable and effective merch to you.
Now, Unless is not yet in the branded merch space, and we stress not yet, and we don’t know anything beyond that, but what Eric and his team are doing with apparel is something worth noticing and celebrating.
Plus, like our conversation with Seth Godin, Eric gives us insight into how plastics harm our planet and shows us how we can make conscientious choices with a zero-plastic waste end in mind.