Natural selection

technical description

An experiment with the potential of 3D printing combined with sustainable fibres. Shoes made of 100% high-quality wool felt. Felt tubes moulded into and around 3D printed forms using millinery techniques. Binders strategically added to vary densities, thus creating hollow heels and suspended foot beds with holes. Felt with raw cut edges, with cuir piping around the outsole.

Size 245x170x90mm, 255 gr. ca., 2013.

concept

Examining how 3D printing could alter footwear architecture and identify new design constructions, frustrated by the lack of natural materials used in this field. Borrowing methods from product and furniture industries (looking at designers like Marloes Ten Bhomer, Gaetano Pesce, Marcel Wanders and Werner Asslinger) and in new wovens to explore sustainable alternatives. By concentrating fibres and adding binders, for instance, the properties and characteristics can be changed, producing both soft and hard materials over one continuous surface. The footwear challenges which materials are acceptable in a trend-lead fashion context.

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