Puma Parkour Concept

Here’s the Final rendering. The rest is below. Feedback welcome!

Inspiration:

Sketches:

Pieces:

Assembly:

Tech:

Colorways inspired by spiders:

sweet! nice detailing on these, might be cool to make the sock a contrasting color, i did not realize until seeing the exploded view that it was its own independent piece…

Overall I really like this concept, really good use of the split “tabby” style toe.
My biggest problem is in the execution of the suspension / cell padding of the forefoot. It just doesn’t seem to jive with the rest of the formal aesthetic and tends draw the most attention which is not a good combination in my opinion.
Awesome process sketches!

ID~ Thanks for the critique.

The bold call out to the forefoot cushioning was actually done intentionally. I was working directly with a guy who practices parkour regularly and one of his complaints about the running shoes typically worn was that the cushioning was mainly focused on in the heel area, when it is actually more important in the forefoot for Parkour. So when I started this project, I knew I wanted it to scream cushioning in the forefoot.

Perhaps the execution was poor, so I gladly hear your opinion, but that was the reasoning…a switch from the typical heel cushioning call out to be more specific to the needs of Parkour.

I really like the process, great concept sketches, research, exploded views, colorways… a great example of how a project should look to be a nice portfolio piece.

However I feel that the final design could be resolved further.

Proportions: toe looks a bit fat, midfoot could be sleeker, heel is overly rounded.

Form: Chuncky football form in the heel doesn’t seem to go with the geometric cyliners in the fore foot or all the hex forms in the outsole.

It is a great project, but I think you had some kernles in your concept sketches that could be developed into something more powerful, sleek, and holistic.

^Good stuff!

Thanks, Mike!

A few things about this concept that I didn’t really explain…

Exuvia: The exoskeletal remians of a spider after it sheds.

The idea to have this shroud that encompasses the foot was initially inspired by how tarantulas molt to replace damaged parts. Parkour puts a lot of stress on the forefoot, so the original idea was to have a cover at the front that came off and could be replaced and protected the shoe underneath. A “training bra” if you will like bras for automobiles.

Then as I was looking at spider silks etc, I saw a cocoon and thought I could make the whole upper out of this recycleable material with a replaceable rubber outsole casing that is recyclable as well. The only thing non-recycleable is the TPU heel counter and footbed. As it turned out, the configuriation of the pieces and the split toe is a symbiotic construction that works together to wrap the foot and remain stable as a single unit.

I decided on the split toe/tabi boot inspiration because parkour is influenced in many ways by asian philosophy, and the tabi boot is actually somewhat acupunctural in that it is good for the back etc. It also increases balance, gives this niche market a unique look, and allows the wearer to climb linked fences etc more easily.

I also went with a vertical puma on the heel since asian writing is written top to bottom…just little things you couldn’t know by looking at it.

The “football” like shape was inspired by the spider’s abdomen. If you put the two shoes together, the 4 straps create the “8 legs” but most importantly serve functionally in this design.

Also, I internalized the shank and exposed some EVA on the bottom plate so that when landing on the edges of hard surfaces, the reaction of the shoe is more flesh-like rather than slipping like the shanks on most running shoes.

Thanks again for looking all!

-TH

These are a few additional pages I had for this project that maybe would have been better posted right away. It may help to explain some of the shoes’ features…

maybe be careful of the medial forefoot strapping - could look a bit 3 stripey. may not be the case in actual shoe…

Also, the outsole may benefit from wrapping up slightly on the medial forefoot as this is used a lot for climbing and buildering as often the foot is ‘smeared’ against a surface in this area.

^ Damn, that’s a great point about the sole wrapping up on the medial side. I shouldn’t have overlooked that!

-TH

WOW!

Awesome, awesome and again awesome job.

WOW!

It’s great talking to peeps that have a need and you don’t participate in the activity, it takes out the biased interaction.


This is true form following function and I like it.
Randall

ok the disighn is perfect … i do parkour as a way of life . these shoes would be the best a pro could own . im urging you to create these shoes … please just do it ull sell so meny of then .