Defective Sex Toys Are Being Recycled Into Fashionable Shoes?

A little streetwear label has partnered with a giant in the adult toy industry to create a shoe derived in part from unused, defective amusements that come off the manufacturing line as misfits. They look alot like Merrell’s popular Hydro Moc or Yeezy’s Foam Runners, Plastic Soul is about 15% sex toy. The rest is non-bleach EVA, a petroleum-based foam that’s difficult to recycle.

The shoes were introduced in white last month and weren’t a sold-out-in-seconds phenom online or in several retail stores around the world. Next up is a black colorway.

Braverman and Teitelbaum are grinding down the sex toy defects into millimeter-sized cubes of thermoplastic elastomer, a mix of rubber and plastic that lends itself to injection molding. That’s how the $130.00 slip-on shoes are made. Teitelbaum, who designed the shoe, added a natural cork insole for extra support.