At the beginning of my spring semester, I went to New York City and used this as an opportunity to get inspiration and do market and trend research. I visited the Jimlar Corporation design studio and also showrooms of Frye, Calvin Klein, RJ Colt, Coach and Mountrek which featured products for Fall 2010. After my trip, I began brainstorming and sketching multiple upper and outsole concepts.
I worked with the Red Wing Shoe Company and Florsheim to create samples of my final design. Both feature the same upper but are built on different outsoles and lasts. The Florsheim samples are on the G-Series fashion outsole while the Red Wing samples were built on the 405 work boot outsole. Smart heel technology features 2mm color layers that are revealed after a significant amount of wear. The integrated layers act as wearing signals to inform the user of unhealthy soles.
I branded the company Christopher Underwood and designed a logo, packaging and a concept for retail store displays. The logo is intended to convey heritage and it also depicts a lug pattern for the smart heel technology. The packaging consists of a 100% recycled box inside of a burlap biodegradable bag which can be used later for other purposes.
