Asics pledges to stop sourcing and using kangaroo skins in footwear

Japanese sportswear brand Asics has announced that it has stopped sourcing kangaroo skins for its athletic footwear. The news comes days after German brand Adidas revealed that it had halted the use of the marsupial skin for its soccer cleats.

Asics confirmed its decision to step away from using kangaroo leather to the Animal Wellness and the Center for a Humane Economy in an email sent from its sustainability department, stating: “We would like to share with you that, as we have successfully developed high-performance alternatives to kangaroo leather, we are moving toward ending the production of products using kangaroo leather by the end of 2025.” 

The announcement sees Asics joining other brands, such as Puma, Nike, and New Balance, in stepping away from the sourcing and using kangaroo skins. “With the rapid-fire announcements from Asics and Adidas, we’re witnessing the dismantling of a supply chain built on bloodshed and the orphaning of kangaroo joeys,” said Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Center for a Humane Economy, in a statement. “The foreign markets for kangaroo skins are collapsing, and that can only mean good news for the iconic marsupials of Australia.”

Jennifer Skiff, director of international programs at the Center for a Humane Economy and lead of the organization’s Kangaroos Are Not Shoes campaign, adds: “Asics has acknowledged a fundamental truth: the commercial slaughter of wild kangaroos for their skins is neither ethical nor morally defensible. Asics’s innovative materials outperform kangaroo leather, removing any justification for continuing this inhumane trade.”

Up to 2 million kangaroos are killed in Australia at night, leaving many joeys orphaned or killed using blunt force, according to the Center for a Humane Economy. Since 2020, the Center’s Kangaroos Are Not Shoes campaign has used investigations, litigation, protests, and global partnerships to expose the cruelty of the kangaroo leather trade. As a result, the annual kill has dropped to 1.3 million and continues to decline as more brands adopt humane sourcing policies.

Following Asics's stepping away from kangaroo leather, the Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action are intensifying efforts to encourage Mizuno, the last large athletic brand using it, to follow suit. “Asics is setting an ethical standard that other Japanese companies should follow. I hope Mizuno will be next,” said Victoria Garafola, the Center’s representative in Japan, in a statement.

In addition, Animal Wellness Action is championing the Kangaroo Protection Act in the US, a proposed ban on importing and selling products made from kangaroo parts.