Sunday, August 22, 2010
Mojito shoe by Julian Hakes
Chanced upon this very interesting piece - not sure if I would classify it as a shoe but it is certainly novel.
Convertible shoes
When I decided to make adaptive products one of the ideas that excited me the most was that of convertible shoes.
Shoes as an object are fascinating in the various roles it plays in the psyche of its wearer. They are of course a necessity- ideally comfortable and long lasting. At the same time they are a luxury - things of beauty and vanity. One of the most important accessories that can make or break a "look" but unlike jewelry or scarves or even bags (to a lesser degree) utterly indispensable.
As a designer it is a challenge to package all these roles of the Shoe into one composite - so it can assume the role required of it by just making a few adjustments to the existing framework. A adjustable shoe is economic - you get 3-4 shoes for the price of one - ecologically beneficial since it allows the same materials to be constantly re-contextualized and though it may be a difficult concept to introduce I hope its inherent playfulness will grow on the consumer.
One of the first things which come to my mind is to bridge the great divide between the Heel and the Flat. The above mentioned roles of the shoe is often mutually excusively divided into these two categories. The heeled shoe automatically summons up an image that is feminine, sexy, dressy and more formal while flats conjure up a more commonplace image of comfort and practicality though hopefully still smart and funky. As a shoe aficionado I cant imagine calling a flat shoe a thing of beauty knowing that something as utterly gorgeous as the stiletto exists and it this addition/subtraction of symbolic value that comes with the addition/subtraction of heels that I find a really interesting premise.
Of course once I started doing my research I realized that the convertible shoe as a design concept has been doing the rounds for a few fears now. From Karl Lagerfield and Lanvin to Shiela's Wheels a U.K based car insurance company have all dabbled in it with some interesting results. While the research makes it a greater challenge to make my designs original its sort of comforting to know that some really fantastic designers have faith in this crazy idea too and maybe in the next decade it wont be so crazy anymore!
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