▶ Watch Video: Billie Eilish: “Nobody that knows me thinks I’m a dark person”
Award-winning singer Billie Eilish announced this week that she has paired up with Nike to create two pairs of “100% vegan” Air Jordan sneakers. The shoes, set to launch on September 27, are just the latest move Eilish has made in promoting more animal-friendly fashion.
The 19-year-old singer announced the sneakers on Instagram, debuting the two options — a tan pair of Air Jordan 15 and a green pair of Air Jordan 1KO. The shoes, she said, are made with more than 20% recycled material and feature a logo on the tongue that Eilish says she drew when she was 14.
In a behind-the-scenes video posted by Nike, Eilish said the green color she and Nike decided on is a “little old me thing.”
“I really wanted to kind of have, almost like an ode to myself in like an appreciative way and a kind of sentimental way, of just like, this was me for a while,” Eilish said in the video. “It sounds kind of dumb because it’s a shoe, but it means a lot.”
Eilish said it’s been “exciting” and “overwhelming” to create the shoes, particularly because of the sustainability aspect.
“You can make cool s*** and you don’t have to be wasteful,” she said.
The shoes are just the latest venture of Eilish’s to promote more sustainable fashion. She regularly speaks out against animal cruelty and the use of fur in the fashion industry.
When Eilish wore a peach gown created by designer Oscar de la Renta at the Met Gala last week, she said she only agreed to do so if the fashion power house committed to going completely fur-free.
“It was an honor to wear this dress knowing that going forward Oscar de la Renta will be completely fur free!!!” Eilish wrote on Instagram.
In May, Eilish said in a video for British Vogue’s “Ask a legend” series that she has been vegan for seven years. She said she decided to become vegan after she researched the meat industry, and realized she was not comfortable with its processes and ethics.
“Once you know that kind of thing and see it, it’s really hard to go back,” she said. “And now, even though I have lots of friends that eat dairy and meat and I don’t ever want to tell anybody what to do, I just can’t go on in my life knowing what’s going on in the animal world, and like, not doing anything about it.”
