Aaron Hope 
Nike will move to a new shoebox design that uses 30% less material next year, saving something like 200,000 trees per annum in the process. Considered Design is just flat out good business, but will the Swoosh’s latest consideration detract from their footwear collection?
With all the amazing synthetic materials out there (and tons more to come, we’re sure), the answer is probably no, but it’s still big news that Nike will eliminate all ‘exotic’ animal skins (read: mostly reptile) starting with the Fall 2010 lineup. That means that the Air Jordan II Retro ‘Bin 23’ joints that have alot of people excited — those simply couldn’t exist in the future. You gotta think that will make those even more valuable, and wonder for the future, what will Nike use to designate their ultra-premium designs?
After receiving video footage from PETA Asia’s new undercover investigation exposing the extreme suffering caused by the exotic-skins industry, Beaverton-based Nike and its affiliate Cole Haan announced that they will stop selling products that are made from exotic skins.
According to Nike’s revised company policy, “Animal Skins must not be any species considered to be exotic. Examples include, but are not limited to alligator, crocodile, lizard, snake, ostrich, fish, marine mammals, etc.” Click here to watch PETA’s exposé exposing the abuse suffered by exotic animals killed for their skins.
“Every snakeskin bag, shoe, or jacket sold in a trendy boutique comes with a high price—and it’s paid by animals who are torn away from their jungle homes and cruelly killed,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “We’re asking retailers worldwide to follow Nike’s lead and step away from cruelty to animals by giving exotic leather the boot.”
In Africa, Asia, and the U.S, exotic animals—including snakes, lizards, alligators, and crocodiles—are hunted or raised and killed specifically for their skins. PETA’s undercover video documents the following atrocities against exotic animals who are killed for their skins:
· A lizard is seen caught in a noose by his tail, upside down, in the wild. Other lizards are decapitated, and some of the animals writhe in agony as they are skinned alive.
· A live snake is nailed to a tree by her head, and her body is cut open from one end to the other before she is skinned alive.
· A worker clubs alligators on a crowded, filthy factory farm until they stop moving, but some animals remain alive. An alligator is seen writhing in pain.
