Modular Sneaker Design
In my penultimate year of university, I was challenged to create a closed-loop sports shoe. The aim of this project is to improve the durability and recyclability of footwear, in order to reduce the environmental impacts of the industry. The proposed solution facilitates the separation of dissimilar materials for recycling, and allows significant customisation possibilities for consumers.
The project began in 2015, although the final render below was completed in 2017. With no previous footwear design experience before this project, it is clear to see the progression of my illustration skills within these two years.
The initial ideation for this modular concept is shown below. Prototypes were created in order to test the feasibility of this method of attaching an independent upper to the tooling of the shoe.
The first prototype was not very successful, as the straps could be pulled away with little force. In order to try and resolve this issue, the additional tab components illustrated below were introduced to the design.
A prototype of the final design was created by hand; stitching a variety of neoprene uppers and moulding a PU tooling using a silicon mould.
The final prototype of the proposed modular sneaker is shown below. It is fully disasmblable and provides adequate stability of a casual sports shoe.
The final design illustrated at the top of this project does not use the tab components to reduce the complexity and variety of materials required for the product. Although this has not been prototyped and tested, I am confident that a similar solution could be developed and commercialised with great success!
