The Mercer Brand has expanded its sustainable footwear offering with The Re-Run Cactus, made from (you guessed it) cactus. The cactus “leather” is developed by Desserto , which is a highly sustainable plant based material as an alternative to leather, often distinguished by its great softness at touch and complying with the most rigorous quality and environmental standards. The aim is to offer cruelty free, sustainable alternatives to leather, without any toxic chemicals, phthalates and PVC. The result, Desserto®️, the cactus material, is partially biodegradable, and is now featured on our popular Re-Run silhouette.
With the purpose of creating an alternative to animal leather, Adrián López Velarde and Marte Cázarez, both hailing from Mexico, developed a vegan alternative to leather made with nopal from a cactus.
After two years of research and development, the creators could finally finish marketable cactus based material as an alternative to leather in July 2019. Its trade name is Desserto®, and it has competitive features compared to animal or synthetic leather, like sustainability, performance and aesthetics.
This Re-Run is made out of the world’s first highly sustainable and environmentally friendly organic material made of Nopal cactus, also known as the prickly pear. We have the colors Green Bay and Warm Gray for The Re-Run Cactus.
The pictured Re-run Max is our brand new 2023 silhouette, orinally intended for ‘‘coffee-runs’’ - the suishy soft EVA midsole outsole makes every step the softest ride you ever set foot in. The recycled rubber outsole provides maximum grip in a sustainable way. Over a white base, we placed a subtle taupe and silver hint combined with open mesh for a full retro look and feed. Try it- we promise you will not regret it.
Nature’s Sweetest Offering
The sugarcane used to make our outsoles relies rainwater, not irrigation. It’s a fully renewable resource that grows quickly, removing carbon from the atmosphere in the process.
Our sugarcane is sourced to rigorous standards that protect people and the environment. These standards were developed by Proforest, and the farms are audited by a third party.