Furniture Inspired Footwear - ON GOING PROJECT

Eman, have you seen the Nike Cityknife 2?

Never heard of it, But I googled it just now. Looks like I’m 11 years too late to the party. :confused: Also looks like you did the CityKnife 3 too.

But exactly what I thought the cross between the two concepts would be. But good to see that the concept would in fact work.


Looks like theres even a pair on eBay right now
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390896634306&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en




Side note: Just noticed I joined this site 9 years ago.

It’s all been done. The concept for that shoe was inspired by a purse by Isaac Mizrahi.

What matters is what you bring to it? How will you advance it? Don’t give up, make it new.

I love the thought process, and as a furniture guy I get your motivation. I often look at the works of the masters and think “what were they thinking?”

If you do some research on this, and I assume you have, the answer is they had to design with what they had at the time. The Eames partnership were using WW2 fighter pilot seat technology and adapting it to consumer furniture.

Now 65 years on, we are faced with different constraints. How do we design without destroying what’s left? There are amazing materials coming out and new opportunities popping up all around us. I’m looking at recycled PET composites, wool blend felt and cork; bamboo and CNC machining; 3d printing and nano fibre.

There’s a rich narrative underlying the Eames lounge. I am left thinking what they would do if they were born in 1980 like I was.

agreed! not sure ive seen a shoe yet that didn’t borrow a few things from other concepts or other shoes in general.
typically when i see a shoe design that is flat out trying to be “like nothing ive ever seen before” it usually is nowhere near possible to manufacture, or its just basically an art piece that no consumer demographic would wear/buy in any sort of volume. but thats just me… :smiley:

You and this guy must be following the same pinterest boards :smiley:

Haha that’s an awesome coincidence. Think I can take it a step beyond a render though

First proof of concept sample just got finished. Took me about 5 hours to do one shoe. Still got another one to do. :cry:

Really dig this idea. Going to try and push it further a bit. Change up the sizes of the triangles to create more iconic shapes and hopefully coincide a bit with the flex zones in the shoes. Might end up doing an ombre effect too. Smaller triangles in the toe area, gradually increasing towards the heel.

Much more interesting than that rendering. That rendering is total fiction.

Eman, some things to think about:
What if the triangle are different sizes, smaller wher more flex is needed, larger she more rigidity is needed.
Do they have to be triangles? Do they need to be equalatteral triangles?

Really awesome prototype. I would buy that.

Don´t forget about the colors of wood itself. Ash and nut or something like that gives a beautiful contrast. With the triangles or such patterns you could make some very interesting forms and gradients without much trouble.

Eman, I dig that you are running this selfinititated project and I think your starting point and inspiration is pretty cool.

I would maybe warn though that it doesn’t just become a Roshe CMF project. It is so close to the original sneaker.

You could probably challenge the form and functional bit more and possible utilize the specific qualities of bent ply in the sneaker.

Agree, I’m going to sketch a few of these style concept out this week. And try and finalize a final direction soon.

As I was building this, I started just applying them in a certain pattern (to keep it interesting during the 10 hour build time) and got this idea as well. Really want to try some cool effects with different colored woods after this project is over.

Completely agree. This was meant more as a proof of concept that wood on a sneaker would work/resonate with other and that it would actually work. Plus I learned a little bit about this particular prototyping process a bit more.

Going to try and figure out a way to really push it a bit more out there. With this project the hardest thing Ive come across is trying differentiate between the inspiration ideas. The idea of the Eames as a form inspiration and the idea of Eames as a process inspiration. The ideal solution would be 50/50 split. But easier said than done.

Took a few thumbnails I had in my sketchbook and blew them up a tad bit. Exploring how to make this wooden textile idea a bit more interesting as well as how to make it relate a bit back more to the Eames. Although a bit more subtle in execution.

On concept B. Maybe the wooden textile is on a wooden colored backer. Making it read more like a full veener sheet from a distance as opposed to the individual shapes. Then using a contrasting color between the panels for that shape break up.

Interesting project. Props on the prototyping, but for me, it’s not showing as much as I think you could. Not much design happening as you are using an existing silhouette. Not much technical as I don’t really see a functional solution to adhering the wood using real life production methods. The wood is “eames” but aside from that I’m not really getting an overall feel of the chair aesthetic nor the functional use of the material (to allow flex in the chair, and the moulding process to allow a 3d shape) the original defined. Sketch some more. Free yourself from constraints.

I’d urge you to push it further. Don’t worry about what you can prototype. Don’t worry about the the roshe as a starting point. I think you’ve got a lot of skills but they aren’t being shown in this current project scope. As it stands, I don’t know if it’s a project I would longer on much in a portfolio.

Hope this is as constructive as it’s meant to be. I see you are putting in a lot of time an effort. I know you can do great things. Show me.

R

I echo Richard’s sentiments. Why have the quarter overlay at all? Why not gradate the size of the wood pieces? What happens when you take the same flex story ino the outsole/midsole like Nike diamond flex? Push much farther. I could think of 10 totally different thumbnail concepts right now. You can do it. Forget the Roshe. It served its purpose as a proof of concept.

A quick idea for you.

I definitely agree with R and others about steering this away from the Roshe platform. Especially since the Roshe Metrics already exists you’re not going to impress many industry people by just doing a slightly cooler version in wood.

I feel strongly that you should totally build this. In fact I think you almost have to in order for it to be cool .

You said at the beginning of the project that hot renders of crazy concepts are a dime a dozen (the Ora-Ito Eames concept is a perfect example) so ground this in the reality of the materials you are working with and I guarantee the project will be more interesting.

Charles and Ray Eames arrived at the solutions they did because they were actively playing and experimenting in the physical world. They were continuously prototyping to find the limits of wood and what they could achieve with it. That’s what made their work so iconic and long lasting, and what most people appreciate the most of their design process. They would not have arrived at the same solutions without building, and I think the same will be true for your project.

I’ve been watching from the sidelines on this one, trying to figure it out a bit… I’m currently working in furniture (currently sitting in a DCM even) and have always dug shoes and love your first post in this thread… but

It feels to me like you are trying really hard to put wood on some shoes, and most of the applications seem to be in a mostly decorative manor. The Eameses molded plywood because it was the right material and process for what they were trying to solve, they explored it deeply and pushed the material and processes around it. They experimented and innovated in other materials too, they weren’t about wood, but the right material and process. Fundamentally I am failing to see where and how any of these ideas are a good application for wood… to that point I think Flyknits are a great example of how the Eames may have used materials and process understanding to solve problems in footwear, this just feels real flat to me right now, I’ve seen you on here for years now, you can do better. If it’s a styling exercise around wood or similar, that’s okay too, but doesn’t seem to address your initial thoughts. Be honest with where you’re headed and execute accordingly.

best
r*

ps
I also get that this is you bearing your process in public for the world to see and appreciate that.

Wood is inherently a horrible material for a shoe unless you are making a wooden clog. I think pieces like it has to be used to do what you want it will chip, it will crack, it will be inconsistent, it will peal off. Basically a welded synthetic material would do what you want with much more reliability.

Ricky is right. The Eames were pioneers in molded ply, but also fiberglass and other composited. They were experimenting with cutting edge materials (molded ply was super high tech pre WWII when they started messing with it) that were inspired by the application.

Now it has become a “look” of course which is totally fine, but is it right for this. I was surprised how much pr hear that render above got. Says something as well as to the cultural resonance I suppose.

Yes to the posts by Ricky and Michael. Exactly what I was trying to say. If eames is your inspiration, follow the philosophy and reason behind the design. Not the design itself. Otherwise might just print a photo of a chair on a chuck and call it a day.

+1 also to Yo’s comment about wood and footwear. If it’s there, there should be a reason for it.

R