Here in the back half of 2021, coffee shoes—either those made of coffee or inspired by it—are nothing new. If you have read Sprudge even casually over the past five years you’ve no doubt seen one of the many articles we’ve covetously penned about coffee sneakers. And while most of the shoes we have discussed have an athletic bent, most coming from a pre-existing silhouette getting the caffeinated treatment, none could truly be said to be performance footwear. Until now that is, with Nomad from Rens (stylized NOMAD), a waterproof performance sneaker made of coffee and recycled plastic bottles, and it’s on Kickstarter now!
We’ve previously written about Rens, the Helsinki-based sneaker company focusing on sustainability and upcycling, when they released the “Original Coffee Sneaker” made in part from used coffee grounds. And now they are back some two years later with the next evolution of the coffee shoe, the Nomad. Per the Kickstarter campaign, the new silhouette keeps many of the same features from the 1.0, including a 100% vegan waterproof design, UV protection, odor-resistance, a light weight, and a construction made of 21 cups’ worth of recycled coffee ground and six recycled plastic bottles. But the Nomad has been a performance upgrade so that you can now literally run on coffee.
According to the Kickstarter, the Nomad comes equipped with SkyStep Performance Midsole, Rens’s latest innovation that uses “specially engineered channels [to] flush out hot air on the downste, and pull in cool air on the way up.” This, per Rens, “creates a lighter sneaker with increased flex and more responsive cushioning.”
And if that’s not enough, Rens has teamed up with ClimatePartner to offset all climate emissions during production, making the Nomad the “World’s first crowdfunded climate neutral sneakers.”
Right from the start the Nomad is being offered in nine different colors: midnight black, varsity black, smoke grey, white snow, red rush, skywave blue, and the three premium “rare earth” colors pearl, jade, and onyx.
With still over 40 days left in the campaign, the Nomad has raised nearly four times it $19,000 goal. But there are still a ton of rewards available for would-be backers, including a pair of Nomads in your choice of size and color for $129, $50 off the MSRP. Deliveries are expected to reach backers in December of 2021 and can be shipped worldwide.
For more information or to order your own pair, visit the Rens Nomad Kickstarter page.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
All media via Rens
