Ok, So I really like the Sandal concept. So I thought about it a bit more.
The thing I kept coming back to in regards to the idea of the Eames lounge was the bent ply. The curves of the chair were inspired by wooden splints that Eames helped make. I thought that this idea played off the idea of having plywood support the human leg.
The twist is though that instead of steam and glue defining the shape. I thought it would be a cool idea to use a lasercut perf pattern to define the shape of the plywood. The idea would be to have a flat pack thin plywood sandal, that has a laser cut kerf pattern, that allows it to bend into the predefined shape.
This will take quite bit of trial and error to get the perf to shape the sandal exactly how I want. But I think its entirely possible to cut a pattern into the wood that would allow it to bend and flex into a predefined shape.
Plus the kerf pattern might make for a very striking graphic treatment on the side as well.