We want to change the way people buy shoes with his Cloudneo sneaker.

The Swiss brand, which is backed by tennis star Roger Federer, has designed a 100% recyclable running shoe that is only available to subscription customers. Customers pay $30 a month for a pair that they can change out every six months as they wear them out.

When the shoes are sent back to the company, On creates a new pair of Cloudneo from the old product.

Other companies have tried similar setups. Salomon, the world’s largest ski boot maker, has unveiled a running shoe that could be recycled into a ski boot. Nike has also created a subscription to meet the needs of fast-growing children’s feet. But On’s shoe is unique in that the product becomes a new pair of the same shoe.

“It’s really strict. It’s not downcycling, it’s not recycling to make a garment,” said François-Xavier Dosne, head of innovation business strategy at On.

A 100% recycled shoe

Since shoes are on average made up of 30 to 50 components, product design was a challenge compared to, for example, producing a circular shirt, which may consist of only three to four pieces of fabric. The shoe is made from castor bean derivatives and is only available in plain white.

“We had to completely reinvent the way the shoe is made, the way the materials are glued together.” Dosne said.

Currently, the Cloudneo has a long five-figure waiting list, with the first pairs expected to reach customers in June.

It is expected that there will be a period of testing and fine-tuning when rolling out the subscription model. For example, the brand is ready to accommodate early or late returns, depending on how many rides a customer has. He set a six-month replacement interval for the subscription because that’s the average length of time customers replaced their shoes. A casual runner doing 20 km per week, for example, will run 600 km in six months, but elite runners can run 160 km per week or more. They will have checks so people don’t replace underused shoes.

“In the return process, we will ask people to send in photos,” Dosne said. “We’re going to run this a bit like a pilot, and then we’ll see and adjust along the way.”

The company, whose main activity is footwear, also wants to tackle other types of products later.

“Once we solve the problem for shoes, it will be quite easy to transfer it to clothing,” Dosne said.