Footwear Design: Handmade Footwear
When I learned to make shoes by hand I didn't expect it to also teach me such a major lesson in patience. First I had to relearn everything I knew about pattern making and reapply it to much smaller scale products, then I had to acquire a more detailed understanding of leather and how to manipulate it to create something that goes on your foot. After this I had to teach myself through Youtube, trial, and error the outdated and slowly dying art of hand lasting shoes. It's experiences like these that remind me why I love to create things and the power of persistence and delayed gratification. Unlike most other fabrics leather is a niche material and every piece has a story as the art of crafting with leather is ancient. To be in the present and to be able to study such a crucial tool in human history is an honor that reminds me of the immense value of using your two hands to create something, taking your ideas and making them reality. Making footwear by hand is what has been my greatest teacher in the importance of persistence and more so persistence in the face of uncertainty or ambiguity.
All footwear here was made with a Juki DDL 8700 and Brother sewing machine as I do not have the proper machine for sewing shoes.
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Dripsta 1 front view
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Lateral perspective
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Tongue unzips with pink suede details
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Asymmetrical drip details. Tongue unzips and reveals breathable mesh layer and pink suede lace guide.
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Lambskin insole and red lambskin pull tab on tongue
I wanted to make a sneaker inspired by the goretex logo with traces of black, yellow, white, and red. This sneaker possesses all of those colors and a suede tongue with a vertical zipper that reveals a mesh layer underneath, mimicking the collar many waterproof shell jackets have. I chose to add a drip detail along the eyelets of the shoe to reference the functionality of waterproof fabric. I purchased a five pound bag of random leather scraps and used those to create this piece.
Dripsta 1 layered leather sneaker
Inspiration:
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Dripsta 2 profile view
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short and long haired suede with vegetable tanned leather heel and toe.
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Golf course inspired platform sneaker
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medial and lateral with a hint of red stitch detailing. Sneakers are made from scrap leathers from older projects.
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Dripsta 1 and 2
Inspiration:
Inspired by the dripsta 1 the dripsta 2 needed to use less black but portray the same concept. After spending a day at Top Golf I loved the color combination of the scenery and was ultimately inspired to reference the colors and textures seen on a golf course
Dripsta 2 suede platform sneaker:
Before creating this shoe, I recognized my personal over appreciation of black and challenged myself not to use black for this design. I love a good platform shoe and think there should be more designed for men. I took some inspiration from my original dripsta shoe, and still chose to go the opposite direction with my color palette. For this shoe I used a golf course as my color palette inspiration. The medial and lateral sides are predominantly an olive tone that is representative of the green on a golf course. The blue water is a nice ode to the first dripsta shoe while also being a reference to the water on a golf course. I used a white pebbled leather on the heel tab to represent the same texture of a golf ball. I also used a crisp tan suede for the lace guides on the tongue to represent a sand trap. The chocolate brown leather on the toe box and heel cup are a parallel to the dirt and trees on a golf course as well.
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Medial and lateral perceptive neoprene mesh, leatherette, 3m, cowhide suede
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Front and back view, keep in mind all materials are reused. Po box address on the back
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distressed detailing lateral view
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the details really make this sneaker with all the paneling.
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3m details on toe box, heel, and tongue.
Inspiration and source product
Video of sneaker lasting:
3M upcycled sneaker
I had an old supreme backpack I wasn’t ready to let go of, and a box of leather scraps I had purchased at a discounted rate. I took a chance and cut the bag apart to transform it into something new. I chose materials consistent with the collection the backpack was from and experimented with various silhouettes that might blend well with the outsole I chose. After settling on the details I have a reflective skate sneaker upcycled from leather scraps and a 10 year old backpack. This shoe is extremely rewarding as it takes the nostalgia from a backpack I used for years and gave it new life. The ability to do something like this by hand is always empowering.
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Lateral perspective. Faux gator animal print details, leatherette, suede toe box, glovetan medial and lateral detailing, mesh tongue, suede orange panel
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Toe box with leatherette barbed wire lace detailing. Medial view
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Medial and lateral view.
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Trail sneaker like grip on outsole and a variety of varying leathers on the medial panel.
Stompas chunky sneaker
Detail Video
This is the first Shoe I made without a rubber outsole. This proved to be challenging as the lasting process required heat when gluing the outsole which nearly melted the “adiprene” outsole, it certainly warped the shape. This was inspired by the trendy bulky shoe concept that has taken over fashion. On Madonna's Self titled album cover, and Madvillains album cover for Madvillainy, they enhance their respective black and white album artworks with a tiny dash of orange. I borrowed this trick for this sneaker and tossed a tiny hint of orange on the mudguard on the toe box.
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Therochromic heat reactive customized samba.
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Sneaker goes from brown to pink in heat or pink to brown in the cold
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White customized Sambas. Nylon tongue with suede details and leatherette throughout.
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Suede and mesh detailing throughout medial, lateral and tongue
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Suede detailed sambas with two sets of lace holes.
Upcrafted and enhanced Sambas
Stitching and Creation:
Seeing customized sambas on instagram made me realize I had the foundational skills to customize or even design my own footwear. As a result, the Samba was the sneaker I used to take apart, practice, and understand the anatomy of a sneaker leading my first footwear designs to be sambas with altered details.
Details and video
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Thermochromic slippers with faux fur insole. They change from light grey to white.
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Front perspective with adjustable ankle.
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Double stacked outsoles for a platform feel and outside wearability.
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Leather slippers with suede detail and nylon adjustable ankle.
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Medial perspective.
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Medial, Lateral, heel.
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fits a range of size 8.5-10 due to adjustable ankle.
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Inner faux fur for comfort and warmth
Slippers and lounge footwear
I was going away for a week in the summer with a friend to a cabin his family owned in Maine. As a worried mom, she suggested I take wool socks, as a stubborn kid I wanted to argue and not accept wool socks in the summer time as I was confident they wouldn't be needed this turned into a comedic debate between us both. Now this is a running inside joke between my mother and I and as a result, last summer I made a slipper with this joke in mind. Heat reactive slippers. They are lined with faux fur and as temperature changes the shoe will change colors. The shoe changes from gray to white. My mom tried to force me to wear a pair of gray and white socks.
