Athletic Footwear Designers Are Catalysts to Pollution.

How can you ignore that what you design, that cool technology, the fact that you are direct injecting a cool shape sole to an upper is going into a landfill in about 2 years from when your cool design is released.

How can you feel satisfied and proud that you have convinced millions of people to buy your shoe design and that in 2 years most of those dirty shoes are going to be taking the place of fields and trees.

How can you not care that the one year old cell phone you are throwing away for your new smart phone won’t be recycled safely and will instead be shipped to some dump in Africa or Asia where shoeless workers are melting them down in smoke filled huts.

How can you not see that as designers you are feeding the West’s obsession with consumption and obsolesce.

Is it fair to say that most designers are no more than lesser paid pop stars trying to make someone else as much money as possible, by feeding consumers the most gratifying consumer experience, but with complete disregard the long term life and performance of the product?



This post isn’t targeted just at Athletic Footwear designers, but its the design area that I have greatest insight in.

How can you superwoo? Are you a footwear designer? Are you a footwear Design Director? I’m curious, recognizing the problem is one thing, but with such strong convictions, what are you doing to abate this situation?

So I’m guessing you posted this using a hand crank recharging a home made environmentally friendly sustainable battery that powers a reused Apple IIc and a vintage CRT monitor? Wearing completely reused or home made clothes? And even if you did all that, which you didn’t, think of all the energy that was used to deliver that text to everyone reading it…

They say the most sustainable product is the one that never existed. The same goes for the most sustainable human.

Sure we are all guilty, but maybe we should spend more time discussing and understanding the long term consequences of our designs, instead of how ‘cool’ they look. For how many more years are people going to keep posting about cool looking kicks and slick renderings? Where is the progress in footwear design culture, where are the new ideas? I’m trying to start a conversation on this forum to break away from what has become a conventional purely aesthetic mindset that no footwear designer should have.

Maybe the most sustainable product could exist if only we discussed and thought about it more. The fact is that we spend more time championing ‘cool’ and being wowed by how slick and fast we can render a shoe instead of really trying to really problem solve. Any professional designer can draw a shoe with their eye’s closed, usually being inspired by (copying) an already existing design ranging from a competitors sample, to a car ,or architectural design. Shouldn’t we try to progress and elevate the footwear design culture instead of re-hashing aesthetic designs over and over again?

I’m trying to make myself as much money as possible. If the people paying me want sustainable, I give it to them. If they don’t, I might suggest it, but I’m not dying on that mountain.

This forum is viewed probably more by design students than professionals and although I respect an honest answer I think it shows the ugly side of design that no student should aspire to. Its a similar egotistical mindset that creates wars and economic crisis for the sake of a few peoples profit. You are basically saying ‘its not my fault they told me to do it’. You are more a mercenary than a designer.

Moderator Hat: ON

I reiterate,

Are you a footwear Design Director? I’m curious, recognizing the problem is one thing, but with such strong convictions, what are you doing to abate this situation?

Your tone is taking a decidedly “hostile” tenor. If as you say,

I’m trying to start a conversation on this forum to break away from what has become a conventional purely aesthetic mindset that no footwear designer should have.

you’re going about it in the wrong. And while a great number of Core viewers are students, the viewing audience of this forum is greater than you perceive.

Answering questions with more questions isn’t leading anywhere. So,

what are you doing to abate this situation?

Disclaimer: I am not a shoe designer, and while I do own a few pair of “athletic shoes” the rest of my footwear is totally man-made materials (defined as such by my work environment). And I tend to support your view regarding the extreme hazards created, but not only by “footwear”.

So … let’s either broaden our discussion to cover the true depth of this global problem, or end it. It is quickly becoming a pissing match, and I will, at that point, end it.

Moderator Hat: OFF

There quit a few innovations and performance aspects in footwear design, it’s not purely aesthetic, if that’s what you think you clearly don’t know much about footwear design. Likewise there are a lot of sustainable advances in design, construction and materials in footwear design. No, not all footwear explores these as there are other priorities depending on the purpose of the product. I’d wager there is more innovation in footwear design than most products. What’s the latest blender offer? chair? lamp? USB whatever?

I don’t think any product category is 100% sustainable and can be looked on as not producing landfill.

Fact is, I’d rather design a cool pair of shoes that someone loves, covets and and has an emotional response to, than be a designer designing a recyclable spoon that nobody wants or cares about.

R

I think superwoo is asking legit questions- It’s just that he/she should ask them in first person plural rather than the more accusatory “you…” I’m a occasional vistor to these forums and at times it’s a bit like stepping into a boys dorm- all cars, gadgets and shoes, and moderators who often come over as thought police rather than facilitators of a balanced discussion.

Foot ware (at 14,958 posts on this forum…) is obviously deeply important to visitors here and as a design category can embody most of the least unlikable and venal traits in design- market share and brand, over social conscience, style over substance. The day Adidas determined that what the world really needed was a trainer styled after an Audi TT, must represent an all time low for design, and presumably some of those shoes are still bobbing around the North Pacific. “a cool pair of shoes that someone loves, covets…” Shoe design is emblematic of many of the moral conundrums in Design.

We can’t change the world. (Just in- Nigeria after being fecked over by the west for its petroleum products is shaping up to get antsy…) But, taken as a metaphor, surely there is an opportunity to design a “recyclable wooden spoon” that people do care about.

Stuffed Vulture, we have obviously tread your “thought police” opinion before…

Often the discussions that point out that “this looks like a college dorm” or “there isn’t mush talk about sustainability on here” have some merit. Both points are true! However, pointing that out does not change either situation. For there to be more diversity of discussion regarding sustainability and, for example, medical devices does not have to come at the expens of discussions like footwear and cars and such. All can have flourishing conversations, but that requires people participating in a positive manner.

So, let me lay down a challenge to you and superwoo in a way that makes the “Thought Policing” at least more entertaining… For me anyway. Instead of bashing someone else’s thing, a negative act, start creating topics, discussing subjects, and POSTING WORK that is of the type of work you would like to see on here more. Lead by example as they say.

Anyone can point out a problem, that is easy. Implement a solution.

The title “Mercenary” sits well with me.

I think at the heart of this issue about who has the responsibility to reduce this pollution or ‘waste’. As Richard pointed out there are many new materials and processes that use less waste, or are more ‘green’ but in many positions as designers we cannot force a company to use these methods on their ‘earth friendly’ qualities alone. Some of these processes or materials do cost more.

I have to admit it is sad in a way that the average consumer (which is all of us in one situation or another) chooses to pay 10-20% less for something that is a piece of junk or disposable vs something that is better for the planet, longer lasting, or renewable. But we all have bills to pay, jobs to keep and companies need to stay afloat. To assume that the role of the designer is the one who will change all of this is a mistake in my opinion/short experience, rather we as designers are more able to play the role to implement these changes.
It is the collective of CEO’s, designers, salespeople, marketing, and most important, the consumer that needs to make a change for this reduction of ‘waste for nothings sake’ to slow down.

The ‘buy green’ market is still so small. and so many people have so many other more important needs to care about than the albatross or beaches in the pacific. Yea its sad, but its the reality and footwear designers cannot change this alone.

I agree with YO!'s comments, and there is still merit in designing for the general population in a way that ‘tricks’ them into thinking that they are getting the ‘same’ product that they have been using, however as the designer we have the responsibility (read: power) to manipulate those products into something marketable and fashionable (ie, not ‘green’, which will fly here in oregon, but not most other places).

This entire discussion has brought to mind a portfolio piece that I did back when I was in school. I thought this might be an interesting forum to share it in.

I was taking a class on footwear design and my teacher, Mike Friton (Nike Engineer) had an invested interest in a ‘Johnny Appleseed’ concept/storyline in which the old fable that we all know is reverted into a modern shoe. I really liked the concept of that and ran with it to develop a shoe that the general population would still be attracted to (ie minimizing sustainable product-conversion mindsets) but providing a less-intense carbon footprint. I think that is where the answer lies in today’s world. It’s not about picking on people or changing everything, it’s about chipping away at the vast problem at hand as our culture and economy allows that.



Hi Yo, I’m preparing a response.

In the mean time I would ask Richard who wrote:-

There quit a few innovations and performance aspects in footwear design, it’s not purely aesthetic, if that’s what you think you clearly don’t know much about footwear design. Likewise there are a lot of sustainable advances in design, construction and materials in footwear design.

Besides water based adhesives, the odd recycled synthetic material, the BioMoGo sole and limited use of questionable ‘regrind’, could you share with us some of innovations which reduce the environmental impact athletic footwear has?

Should designers be reliant on other peoples innovations to design with less environmental impact? Should we be designing uppers and soles that can be taken apart for cost effective recycling?

How are Skora designs really different from footwear designed 12-13 years ago such as the Nike Air Rift and Puma Mostro below?



Skora-base.png
If you’d had a baby when the Nike Rift came out today they would be about 13 years old, thats a big change. I see hardly any change in athletic footwear, especially now when there is an urgency to reduce the environmental impact it has.

Where do you think most pairs of Skora shoes will be in 2 years time? And for the next 600-1000 years? In 2 years the midsole will have broken down, the outsole will be worn out, maybe a few seams will be coming unstitched, what then?

We footwear designers should be focusing on solving the most pressing problems regarding footwear, not making them.

So … let’s either broaden our discussion to cover the true depth of this global problem, or end it. It is quickly becoming a pissing match, and I will, at that point, end it.

Lmo, this is no pissing match. But as designers I feel we have become drunk off our success and are pissing against the wind, while stroking each others ego. There is an urgency to get down and dirty and come to terms with reality and thats what I’m doing. I don’t believe anything I’m writing is untrue and although its a hard conversation to have, but I see no reason for you to pull the plug on this post.

I’m no Nigel Farge, but you should hear how crisis is discussed in the European parliament.

Lmo, this is no pissing match.

It isn’t now.

I frequently find it easier to convince others of my point of view, if I go about it without confrontation and hurling accusation. Most of us are not independently wealthy, and all work, or have worked, for clients or corporate employers. May I suggest that working to their requirements and limitations does not make one a mercenary.

Perhaps you could offer some clarification about how the words of Mr. Farage apply to this discussion.

With regard to your question;

Should designers be reliant on other peoples innovations to design with less environmental impact?

The American auto industry was confronted with a similar dilemma when it was required to convert to a “new” water-borne paint technology. The color-coat was now more “environmentally friendly”, but could not survive exposure to ultra-violet (sunlight). To protect it a “conventional” clear-coat was applied over the color-coat. This did not significantly reduce the amount of nasty chemicals used, but it did increase the amount of time and natural resources required to initially manufacture the vehicle. This attempt to reduce environmental impact protected the vehicle for some time, but eventually (frequently less than a year) the interface between the two dissimilar coatings failed and the clear-coat pealed off. Even with the best of intentions, several unexpected, negative, results occurred: a) the vehicle’s life expectancy was shortened, b) the vehicle needed to be repainted, c) additional pollution was created, d) energy was wasted, and e) cost of ownership increased.

The point I am trying to make is that designers are limited to using materials that are commercially available. To do otherwise adds significantly to the cost of a product; enough that it may become nonviable. De la journée “athletic” shoes aside for a moment, I suspect that if “old world” natural-materials technology were reverted to, many people in the third world would have no shoes at all.

Will materials and adhesives manufactures, rise to the task of developing bio-sensitive products? I think they already are. Hopefully the end-result will be better than what automotive consumers suffered at the hands of the well-intentioned legislators.

true story! lately i’ve becoming slightly obsessed with choice, circumstance, & context and how they affect our lives/the world…so much happens that is out of people hands. ultimately “the market”’ does decide , it is crazy how many things begin with good intentions that the ole’ unintended consequences turns on its face!

i have not really read everything here so forgive me if this has already been stated, but the whole premise of this thread is lightweight preposterous, there are too many things that supersede footwear designers in the chain that takes a sneaker from a thought to an object…seems like you just wanted to start somethin’

Having designed some of the greenest shoes on the planet and having seen them shelved, I can gaurantee you that designers are not the issue.

Superwoo, comparison of footwear to that of a child over a 13 year period is not very intelligent. Bit i find you entrire discussion ill informed, so you are consistent. Also, I find you specifically prodding Richard in a way that is flirting with the forum guidelines. I would chose your next post carefully.

Your next response will be for you to stop the talk and design the product you feel is right. Put your money where your mouth is.

I agree with you and that is one of the reasons why I started PENSOLE Footwear Design Academy. Do oyu have any ideas on how we can educate future professional designers not the follow in the same foot steps as others?

Firstly I would like to apologize if I have offended anyone. My intention was only to state what I believe; that in a time of skyrocketing consumption and waste, designers have an even greater impact and duty to design product responsibly. I’m not against anyone, I am a footwear designer like you. I’m simply asking different footwear design questions, ones which I believe are the most important.

So far most replies on this post have all blamed someone else for the pollution caused by athletic footwear; the consumer, their employer and even me for being ill informed and not knowing much about footwear design. Should designers wait for materials suppliers to offer environmentally friendly solutions, for marketing to write the environmental briefs, or for consumers to demand product with reduced environmental impact? I think not, not only because we are all responsible for the environment, but also because we will waste time waiting, relying on each other to come up with the solutions.

So every now and then I revive this post to see if peoples impressions about footwear design and pollution have changed. So far it seems that some people still don’t feel very concerned, nor responsible for the environmental impact footwear has and others feel helpless. Designing a shoe to perform for a few years with a disregard about the next 600 years seems to be the industry and design standard. I hope this perspective is changing because unfortunately footwear contraception doesn’t exist and we can’t continue just having fun designing and forgetting about our designs and their consequences once the season is over. We are associated to them for their entire life, which is longer than ours, so lets try to reduce the negative impact our designs have on our environment.

In the face of increased global consumption and pollution it’s even more important to educate ourselves on how to reduce the negative environmental impact of our designs, because they will be sold in greater quantities than ever. I’m no educator and I don’t have many answers yet, but I have questions. This forum viewed probably for the most part by footwear designers and students, seems the best and most direct place to ask those questions and maybe if its possible, even create just a spark of a discussion.

Here is my perspective and some of my answers.

I believe designers have a talent, they are free thinkers and their creativity should be put to the best use and not just be industrial pawns. As designers we should always strive to be better, not only technically, but also in identifying and solving the most important problems, not just the ones we are hired to solve. In my opinion, for some time mainstream design thinking, not only in footwear has been quite linear and the most important problems are not being solved. Ask yourself has athletic footwear design, with all the designers working to innovate it, really come far enough in the last 20 years? Especially when it continues to a have the same negative impact on the environment.

Can we consider the new footwear uppers we design progress from last year, or from 10 years ago? Isn’t it true that most times change only creates the illusion of progress?

Shouldn’t we educate ourselves to further challenge the convention, designing beyond the simple parameters set by the brief. Because our linear form of footwear design thinking is not only detrimental to the environment but is also becoming conventional in itself. And designers should be neither of the two. We can’t continue to just mimic popular culture and structural performance, while dumping synthetic waste on our planet increases.

We designers are problem solvers, not problem makers.

It’s not a pissing match for me, just an uncomfortable discussion about the stagnant state of footwear design and the environmental impact it has. Sure my approach is bold and urgent, but tell me there is no urgency.

My hope is to shake, wake and get a response by asking a few hard questions. Lets get everything out into the open to confront and to discuss, instead of keeping our heads buried in the sand.

I am not pointing fingers, I am not being a hypocrite, I’m just asking questions that I think any ethical designer should be asking. This is a forum where all footwear design questions should be asked even the difficult ones, not just ones about sourcing, networking and rendering techniques. Mine is “how do you feel about the non-biodegradable, non-recyclable waste athletic footwear designers create?”

Everything I’ve written, I’ve asked myself and experienced personally. I don’t think I’m ill informed. I’ve also designed footwear with high quantities of non-biodegradable and non-recyclable content (what athletic uppers are?). But today I’m intentionally designing much less of that footwear as I explore new dimensions in footwear design. The reasons are two; the first being that I became uncomfortable associating myself with millions of environmentally polluting shoes which I designed in order to appeal exclusively to the performance and fashion seeking athletic consumer. Shoes that would perform for only a few years before they sat in a landfill for the next 600. The second is that I didn’t want to continue exclusively down the linear design path of replicating parametric/planar tessellations, vintage details, or spinning anymore zoomorphic concepts when design is so much more than imitation and repetition.

Recently the terms ‘Retro Culture’ and ‘Karaoke Culture’ have been discussed and used to describe the repetitive nature of our culture and consequently our design.

Tell me footwear design is not repetitive.

Malcolm Mclaren puts it best in his social-critique video on the web:-

“in a karaoke world you’re free from any real responsibility, beyond that moment of performance”.

Which is exactly how I once felt, drooling over that complex shank mold, inspired from tensile structures.

There have also been countless design manifestos written, the ‘First Things First Manifesto 2000’ being one of them states how: -

“designers then apply their skill and imagination to sell dog biscuits, designer coffee, diamonds, detergents, hair gel, cigarettes, credit cards, sneakers, butt toners, light beer and heavy-duty recreational vehicles. Commercial work has always paid the bills, but many graphic designers have now let it become, in large measure, what graphic designers do. This, in turn, is how the world perceives design. The profession’s time and energy is used up manufacturing demand for things that are inessential at best.”

“There are pursuits more worthy of our problem-solving skills.” as “Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our attention.”

http://maxbruinsma.nl/index1.html?ftf2000.htm

Signs that all is not well in the design culture. We should be doing more than convincing consumers they look fashionable, that they can run faster on the track, or cut harder on the court.

The big question I am asked in this forum is what am I doing about it? How am I educating myself and challenging convention?
There are countless ways to evolve design culture positively. So I’m not saying how it should be done, but I would like to see if a discussion could be had to share possible solutions, or experiences. I can share 2: -

1. Search and learn about more ways to reduce the negative environmental you have in your daily life.

Some readers of the forum seem skeptical about sustainable design and sustainable consumers. What is certain is that one cannot happen without the other.

I’m not an apparel designer, nor a T.V, nor cell phone designer, so I have little say in the design evolution of those products. However as a consumer I can still try and reduce the environmental impact I have using products that I haven’t designed. Not only that, but my sustainable consumer experience directly or indirectly informs and drives my sustainable design thinking.

I believe that to attempt to live sustainably is also to develop sustainable design thinking.

Here are a few of the personal changes I have made in my life that both have less impact on the environment and inform my design thinking: -

I wear second hand synthetic sports gear and mend it when it breaks so as to reduce my environmental impact. Because sport is not about appearance, nor about the latest gear, Its about body and mind. I believe the future of sport should be in its core philosophy; the performance of body and mind, not technologies and accessories. This you can already see in minimal running footwear. My running sandals I made myself from used rubber and leather, they also have a ‘zero drop’ and the best part is all the components come apart so its also easy change the sole and to recycle. My hiking boots might be a little heavier due to the thicker leather, but do not need a waterproof membrane which would slowly break down, they are also resolable.

I replace the broken parts on my MacBook with the help of http://www.ifixit.com. Lets not romanticize, you don’t need an emotional attachment to keep using any athletic product longer, just an enjoyment of sport over fashion and quality product that will last and can who’s broken/worn parts can be replaced (even with a mark-up). What if you could put a brand new Air 360 sole on you old Air Jordan 13 and recycle the old worn sole?

Sure I still find it hard to buy food without plastic packaging and I’m not saying we should stop driving cars, but to imagine a lifetime of unrestrained unsustainable waste making is nauseating.

I listen to a podcast called ‘Getting Right With Gaia’, which although eclectic I feel is informative and motivating.

http://thegaiacast.com/

Design is a reflection of our culture; I believe we designers must improve our personal culture if we are to improve our design. Question ourselves, how progressive are we and how positive are the things we stand for? We should be the early adopters and begin living a more sustainable lifestyle in order to design more sustainable product. We have to first question the environmental impact of everything we do in life, before we can effectively think that way when we design.

As designers not only do we have the gift of creativity, but we’re also in the position to encourage changes in our culture, because we create much of its physical expression. In these times we should be focusing more on solving serious problems like pollution, than alternative closure systems, signature athlete footwear jewels and an improved cleat placement.

How much longer can we focus on restyling retro while our use of synthetics adds to the suffocating pollution on our “spaceship earth”?
2. If there is no company that prioritizes environmentally conscious design and none of your solutions are adopted, start your own commercial project, brand or school. Design should not be exclusive to mainstream industry.

I’ve started developing a socially and environmentally conscious footwear brand concept and footwear collection. To implement my design philosophy and solutions and one day those of other designers. Socially and/or environmentally conscious brands fascinate me because their footwear design can focus on a new kind of performance. The bigger picture is that the sooner we can create and develop more socially and environmentally conscious footwear brands, each with a different purpose and mission, the sooner and easier it will be to design in other directions than athletic structural performance and aesthetic. Developing new brand philosophies and frameworks to maximize deliverables, to define more aspects of design than just short-term performance and style. Places where a designer is encouraged to focus on designing an upper, or sole that is easily dismantled for recycling, or challenged to integrate hemp which has antimildew and antimicrobial properties instead heading to the closest Yi Jin polyester mesh catalogue.

I’m not saying stop designing high volume footwear, nor stop thinking about ‘cool’, but I think we should ask ourselves what is footwear design, what does it benefit and what does it harm? To seek not just to enhance the benefits of footwear but also to reduce its harm.

If your design is like ‘your baby’, what happens to it when it gets older?

I don’t have many answers but its important we all to try and find as many as we can.

As footwear designers what can we do to reduce the negative environmental or designs have?

We designers are problem solvers, not problem makers.

That is great you have started your own brand to live up to your ideals. When is the launch date? Where will the product be made? What adhesives will be used, or will the attachment of the components all be mechanical? How have retailers received the product?

i see where you are coming from…and i can respect that. i would even agree with the idea that designers are problem solvers (solutions which often leads to new problems to solve, so maybe designers ARE problem makers as well?) where the issue/problem lies is that designers are NOT (for the most part) executers, that is, the ones that implement/fully realize solutions. if you got a problem, yo i’ll solve it (check out the hook while my dj revolves it! ©Vanilla Ice) unfortunately, there is the matter of industry needed to make it happen, and who is to say it is the best solution?

no disrespect to the institution that is design or individual designers, but statements like these have always bothered me:

“There are pursuits more worthy of our problem-solving skills.” as “Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our attention.”

because those problems are not just our’s…further, the strength of design lies in (my opinion) working with other disciplines to define & understand the problem, drawing from a breath of knowledge, and synthesizing of information into a solution. such statements seem to imply that designers alone have some special providence to discern what needs to be done. while some of the world’s “worthy” problems may need more attention, not sure why designers are the ones that could or should lead that charge nor why it should be their responsibility. at best it is misguided, at worst…hyperbole aimed to give the profession relevance/weight beyond being “industrial pawns” the world indeed has many ‘more worthy’ problems just do not think it need designers to ‘solve’ them…

this isn’t to say striving to be & do better as far as addressing & considering the life-cycle of footwear/products, just that realistically design does not run the show. there are designers are trying to move things in that direction within different industries, unfortunately the right application has not come along or been used yet. leonardo da vinci was perhaps one the greatest minds a designer could ever wish to have, and he came up with quite a few inventions that were ahead of their time…but the fact that they were so ahead, made them useless for that time & ultimately forgotten only to be independently 'invented again. point being, just because it hasn’t been implemented doesn’t mean people do not care or are not thinking about it, it may be that an eco-friendly, green, sustainable footwear process(es) have not been made ‘useful’ in enough ways yet…

I “like”, as in a facebooky, plus one way, what superwoo has to say. Let’s not squash him.

I’m reflecting the same level of expectation he has on the industry. Just making sure is practicing what he preaches.

Summer 2013, Mexico (couldn’t find US), Water based, stitching, just got my first round pullovers.

Sure its idealistic to think we can solve all the problems at once, but we have to prioritize solving the most important ones.

New design priorities, for new product.