Here at What The Future, we know it’s not enough to simply create (amazing!) innovative 3DTI tech. We also need everyone from designers to consumers to understand the game-changing possibilities this tech enables, to prove how it can work in viable business models with sustainably made products that consumers want to wear or use.

Enter SYOU. A footwear brand whose ‘locally made, everywhere’ ethos aligns with our vision. We’ve become colleagues in the space of sustainable footwear manufacturing, working together with our tech, their brand and joint goals to bring a specific product to market that accelerates R&D for both companies.

This experiment is the SYOU NAP600MM, a sandal is produced in a building 600mm above sea-level, Normaal Amsterdams Peil, a daily reminder for both team and consumer of rising global sea levels. When scaled, the same sandal produced in Bogota would be the NAP2625M. Each location referencing its height above sea level as a product marker and aptly highlighting the massive change in mindset required on all global material consumption.

With local production for local customers, this sandal is designed for more than one product lifetime using natural rubber, a plant-based, sustainable and biodegradable material that can be fully recycled for a second life. Local creation enables SYOU to have both ‘pick-up’ and ‘give back’ events. Early adopters who’ve placed pre-orders will be able to see exactly how tech and design combine to create their footwear. At a later date, there will also be a ‘give back’ programme, for when the product eventually becomes worn or the emotional lifecycle has expired.

Central to the NAP600MM experiment is the feedback of these first users along the way. How is the fit, feel, material and wear? And crucially, at what stage would future customers expect to ‘give back’ the product. All aspects help continued development of the tech, materials and design.

The psychological journey required for both consumers and brands to really apply, and create, sustainable fashion involves a new consumer mindset and a new style of collaborative business partnership.

Unlike other initiatives, this experiment is keeping it small, honest and open-doors to show exactly what’s involved in changing our habits to enable true product circularity. This way the NAP600MM allows us to demonstrate to customers that such change is not just a one-step process but a whole reconstruction of the traditional consumer model.

With What The Future and SYOU teams working closely together, as we also do in our partnership with Shloop, and with full transparency, we not only look out for each other but let each other into our respective world’s. Turning the traditional supplier model on its head to change to a new collaborative model.

We’re proud SYOU chose to work with us in this way. Check out SYOU for yourself

Founded by Merijn ten Thije in 2011, SYOU began life in Burkina Faso. It then moved to Colombia, where the collection was 100% locally sourced and produced, becoming a local phenomenon with advocates including the First Lady. Fast forward to 2024, and SYOU is bringing the local model home to Amsterdam working with What The Future to create their first sustainable sandal