WEEDO: Meet Your New Obsession

Ever since 8000Kicks launched their line of sustainable hemp shoes, people have been asking co-founder Bernardo Carreira if the brand’s sneakers are safe to smoke. It’s a joke, of course, but the constant barrage of such inquiries on the brand’s social media feeds was destined for positivity. Never one to let a creative opportunity go to waste, Carreira decided to take his customers at their word by collaborating with leading European seed bank Royal Queen Seeds (RQS) to create WEEDO: a limited run of shoes made from premium cannabis flower.

8000Kicks typically relies on regular hemp fibers, turning them into shoes by means of a process that includes harvesting, retting, carding and pulping the source material before ultimately spinning it into yarn, which is then woven into textiles as a premium fabric.

WEEDO shoes, however, are made using CBD from the cannabis plant. Each shoe is handcrafted using up to 500g of premium CBD derived from the cannabis plant. They’re extremely covetable, too, as only 100 pairs were produced. Available to purchase exclusively from the RQS and 8000Kicks websites on a first-come, first-served basis, WEEDO’s high price point (1000-1500€/$1500USD) reflects the immense cost and labor required to create such a unique and exciting product.

According to Carreira, the onus for WEEDO came from a brainstorming session over email between himself and RQS President Shai Ramsahai that spilled into a meeting at Spain’s annual Spannabis cannabis expo. “We already knew we wanted to make a collab,” Carreira says. “When we met at Spannabis, we formalized the idea to make it happen. Among a couple of crazy ideas, we decided
to make a weed shoe.”

What does it take to create a cannabis flower shoe? According to Carreira, the process included the use of an industrial grinder, which was employed to break the cannabis flower down into small pieces. From there, the ground flower was meticulously stitched onto the shoe. 

Intent to showcase sustainable materials, WEEDO kicks feature cotton as well as hemp laces, insoles and interiors. In addition, to further ensure the shoe satisfies as a vegan-friendly, ecologically-friendly product, these materials are all secured together with a water-based glue. And then, of course, there’s the fact they look (and smell) amazing.

Visually, the sneakers appear to have been evenly rolled in freshly ground cannabis—a sight that’s surreal, chic and—remarkably—highly sustainable.

“The craziest thing about these shoes is their look, feel and smell,” Carreira says. “I have the shoe in front of me in my office, and I still can’t really believe we made a weed shoe. It’s such an unusual thing and that’s what really makes it so cool.”

Adding to the novelty is the fact that those lucky enough to score a pair of WEEDO shoes will eventually notice their footwear changes color. The cause is simple: Because they’re made from real cannabis flower, the shoes are destined to turn from green to brownish hues as the flower continues to dry. 

A sneaker with natural aging abilities? It’s yet another reason this special collaboration between Royal Queen Seeds, 8000Kicks and Nisiseltor Studio has so many sneakerheads excited. In fact, Carreira says he clocked more than 5000 new signups following the public announcement of WEEDO’s upcoming release. With so much interest, is it possible 8000Kicks will continue down this road with more releases featuring real weed?

“It’s pretty challenging, honestly,” Carreira says. “Right now, we’re continuing to work on the WEEDO project.”

While the 8000Kicks CEO remains understandably focused on finalizing the pre-sale launch of WEEDO, he certainly isn’t ruling out any future fantastical and groundbreaking innovations.

“We want to deliver WEEDO with amazing quality and have our customers impress all their friends, but then…the sky’s the limit,” he says. “I mean, Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Puma—they’ve all been around for ages, but none of them ever pulled this off. But we did—we actually made the world’s first weed shoe.”

How cool is that? Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

This story was originally published in issue 49 of the print edition of Cannabis Now. Read it now on the Cannabis Now iTunes app.