Design of the Week: Caged Heels

This week's selection is London-based shoe designer Bryan Oknyansky's Caged Heels.

  

Oknyansky runs Shoes By Bryan, a bespoke designer of very unique shoes, operating since May 2011. The award-winning designer begins a shoe design by analyzing the physics of the shoe. He uses personal orthopedic dimensions and ergonomic measurements in the parametric 3D CAD models to produce shoes that are not only stunning to look at, but also incredibly comfortable and functional to wear. 

  

According to Oknyansky's site: 

 

Most footwear designers do not mention the inherent physics involved in the design and creation of footwear. Bryan Oknyansky begins with physics as the main design problem and, as his recent title of Red Dot: Product Design 2012 Honourable Mention testifies, he never presents a final product to a client that cannot stand the test of human wear. 

 

Oknyansky produces many beautiful shoe designs, but we've selected Caged Heels, a set 3D printed in a titanium alloy and finished with leather. 

 

Via Shoes By Bryan

More 3D Printed Shoes

There's more cool stuff from the folks at Continuum Fashion, who have previously produced a 3D printed Bikini. They've now released the "strvct" 3D printed shoes, a mesh-like design printed in nylon. Don't worry, they are indeed wearable as they include a "patent leather inner sole, and coated with a synthetic rubber on the bottom to provide traction". 

 

The design is brilliant in more ways than one. Not only is it visually interesting, but the mesh of triangles reflects the digital origin of the shoe's design: a 3D digital mesh of triangles, also known as an STL file. 

 

The strvct shoes are available for purchase now, at a cost of USD$900 per pair. Evidently they are "made to order", suggesting that they likely will be sized precisely for your feet. There are also variations of the design to choose from. 

 

Via Continuum Fashion and Shapeways

More 3D Printed Shoes

After jewelry, the most frequently 3D printed item of clothing seems to be shoes. Some of the designs we've seen up to now were totally fantastic but were perhaps more arty than you'd care to wear in "real life". Now we're seeing more practical 3D printed shoe designs by artist Hoon Chung of the University of the Arts London. 

 

Not all of the designs appear to be 3D printed, but least eight are. They've been made by joining two different prints together: the upper and the sole. Hopefully the upper is made from a softer material otherwise they could become uncomfortable. 

 

We're interested in reader comments, particularly regarding the styles and colors. What do you think? 

 

Via University of the Arts, London and The Imagination Age

The V&A Goes 3D

If you're visiting London soon, we'd recommend you spend some time at the Victoria and Albert Museum, home of incredible deisgns of all kinds. Typically the works are historical, but at times contemporary works are displayed. That's what's happening now in a new exhibition called "The Power of Making" taking place at the V&A from 6 September to 2 January 2012. The exhibition includes over 100 "exquisitely crafted objects". According to their website: 

 

The exhibition showcases works made using a diverse range of skills and explores how materials can be used in imaginative and spectacular ways, whether for medical innovation, entertainment, social networking or artistic endeavour.

 

We're specifically interested in the 3D printed shoes crafted by Marloes ten Bhömer, which we wrote about in January. This is an opportunity for the public to check out these amazing shoes in person. 

 

The shoes were produced with Objet 3D printing technology, which has the unique feature of being able to mix multiple materials together during a single print operation. This means a print, such as the V&A shoes, can include both rigid and soft portions. Very important in a shoe, comfy counts. 

 

The shoe's design is quite interesting: it is made of component parts that offer the ability to reconfigure the shoe, yet it is printed in a single operation and emerges already assembled. The design to wearable process apparently was only hours, truly demonstrating the Power of Making.

  

Via Victoria and Albert Museum & Objet (Hat tip to Clare)

Melonia Shoes at The Design Museum

During our recent visit to London and The Design Museum, we came across a very cool 3D printed shoe design: The Melonia Shoe. Designed by fashion designer Naim Josefi and industrial designer Souzan Youssouf, the shoe is the product of software that is capable of adjusting the size of the shoes on demand. Their vision:

 

... customers may visit a shop where their foot is scanned and an individual, personally tailored pair of shoes can be produced. 

 

Inspired by contemporary ecologic concepts, the shoes are made of recyclable plastic. This means a wearer can theoretically recycle their shoes into entirely new designs. 

 

They believe this to be the "first 3D-printed haute couture shoes in the world". We're not entirely sure about that, but they are quite something to see. As for wearing comfort, we're not sure about that either. 

 

[UPDATE] Materialise reports on this particular shoe: 

 

One of our staff has actually worn those, and could walk ...  I think she was fine walking on them without adding anything else ... apparently they are beautiful to look at and wearable, but not meant for long walks

Shoes by Andreia Chaves

We're fascinated by the idea of 3D printed shoes for some reason. Perhaps it's the notion of always having a shoe that fits perfectly. On the other hand, it might the limitless number of astonishing designs one can imagine are possible. One such design was recently made by Andreia Chaves and Freedom of Creation. 

 

The shoes are made of a 3D printed exterior frame surrounding a more conventional (and comfortable!) handmade inner leather portion. Two models have been produced: a "see through" version and another that has the facets closed. Amazing!

 

Via Freedom of Creation

3D Printed Shoes Nominated For Award

You might have seen those amazing 3D printed shoes produced by Materialise. Well, they're so impressive they've been nominated for the Brit Insurance Design Award, and as such they're being exhibited in London until 7th August of this year at the Design Museum. According to Materialise:

 

Within the fashion category are nominees Naim Josefi and Souzan Youssouf for the Melonia Shoe, a 3D printed shoe which hit the runway last February.

 

Naim and Souzan, of Beckmans and Konstfack design school respectively, collaborated in the creation of the shoe, 3D printing five pairs with Materialise for use in Naim’s “Melonia” collection at last year’s Stockholm Fashion Show. The shoe was designed to be a closed loop, in which a person can go to a shop, have their foot scanned, and have a shoe printed of homogenous, recyclable material. This pair of shoes can then be recycled to provide the material for a new pair when needed, the entire process embodying the concept of “no waste”.

 

Good luck! 

 

Via Materialise

3D Printed Couture Shoes

Designer Marloes ten Bhömer is well-known for her unorthodox shoe designs, and now she's apply 3D printing technology to her craft. Pictured above is her latest creation, the Rapidprototypedshoe, showing at the Design Museum Holon in Israel until January 8th. 

 

The shoe was designed in Rhino and printed on an Objet Connex500. We believe this is the only printer capable of printing this shoe because the Objet has multi-material capability. In other words, both soft and hard materials can be printed at the same time - obviously important when creating shoes that must fit comfortably on your feet. 

 

The shoe is visually interesting, but also includes some unique features: 

 

Rapidprototypedshoe is built in one go, but consist of two different materials. The concept of the shoe is based on the idea of the absence of assembly work in Rapid Manufacturing, however the shoe is designed in such a way, that it can be dismantled for the purpose of replacing parts. 

 

And of course, the shoe always fits the wearer. 

 

Via MARLOES TEN BHÖMER