Research: Creative Design (Virtual Shoe Museum)

 In this blog I will be looking at multiple slider designer and design work available at Virtual Shoe Museum. For which I will be going through in details and get inspiration from it if I use it in my major project of Art Portfolio Work.

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TYCHE CONTOUR - GATOR DOMINIC:-

Tyche Contour, 2019 by Gator Dominic

Beginning with my first thoughts these are a very low profile (flat/ thin) sole which are being used. Moveover the Gator Dominic is a Sculptural Footwear designer whose work are most for women footwear with initials design as embossed face on leather in most of this work. These slides a feathers as accent piece giving me a first thought of Egypt Sculptures.“Named after the Greek goddess of fortune and prosperity, Tyche, 2019. Featuring an extravagant eye detail with bright feathers as lashes, pair this style with just about anything to use them as your favourite accent piece”(Dominic, 2019). Seeing into more detail the leather where the eye is attached, that leather is designed symbolizing side face on each pair facing to each other. Although, these hard sole is something which really does not attract the attention of my target market but the concept of using feather and highlight the uniqueness of the designed leather as face on each pair with an big strap/ upper vamp is something Gen-Z would find interesting. Lastly, the Tan leather gives a nice approach towards the accent period and I would more likely to think something related to accent period like the design used by Versace, Although not the exact same as it would be plagiarism but I will find out some better design and can plan too embossed it in one of my 6 design; this more likely can be a good start with the help of this research.

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LAVENDER SQUEEZING SHOE - AHLAM KAYSI:-

Lavender Squeezing Shoe, 2020 by Ahlam Kaysi 

Moving on to second design, here we got an homemade footwear carved from beech wood with the help of CNC technology. As I was reading about this I got to know this was not a slider, it is a shoe. Although, this shoes is unique and has catch my eye because the design is related to slider. I saw this piece of work because, Slider are basically breathable and does not completely covers or hide the toe and heel for which this footwear by Kaysi (2020) has inspired. Moreover I have unlocked a new knowledge making me to try using rope connecting/ running from the sole to making it reliable. “The natural cotton shoelace is sized to allow the shoe to be adjusted to the width of the individual foot and to insert variable quantities of lavender to the shoe. The upper is made from sole leather, using wet molding technique, shaped on an anatomic last. Part of the design course ‘Transitions’ mentored by Eliora Lemmer Ginsburg” (Kaysi,2020). This footwear were primarily designed for aid people and the background information about the use of lavender and the wood is very beneficial for people. According to Kaysi (2020) states, The essential medicinal properties of the lavender plant are well known. The weight of the body and the motion of walking crush the fresh lavender branches that are positioned between the concave sole and the convexed insole when wearing the shoe. The wood absorbs the natural oils as they are released, and the foot subsequently absorbs them. Although these footwear has medical benefits but wearing beech wood and crushing lavender is not all Gen-Z would like. Even thought, its design for the upper and the use of rope is creative I would considered this bit of my research in my initial idea with some changes but the material (beech wood) does not satisfy my idea neither my target market. 

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MBATATA - LIAM FAHY

Mbatata, (no date) by Liam Fahy 

Next, After scrolling for minutes this is the footwear which catches my eyes by Liam Fahy. Liam Fahy well known for his luxurious footwear design. Unfortunately, there were no much details about the footwear so I searched for it on google and other search engines where I only got to know The Mbatata is a part of  Special Project collection. According to Fahy (n.d), these Sandals were made from an old truck Tyre featuring traditional African in this design. Moreover, due to lack to detail I didn’t had much information about the background information and details about the footwear but I zoomed into the picture and I got to know the footwear has Zero stitching each part of it is glued together and the entire shoe is made up of Tyre. As Tyre is a material I am looking at with this piece of research I got proficient knowledge on designing the sole with raw Tyre without hot molding it or polishing it.

References:

Dominic, G. (2019). Tyche Contour - Ganor Dominic. [online] virtualshoemuseum.com. Available at: https://virtualshoemuseum.com/ganor-dominic/tyche-contour/ [Accessed 18 Feb. 2024].

Kaysi, A. (2020). Lavender Squeezing Shoe - Ahlam Kaysi. [online] virtualshoemuseum.com. Available at: https://virtualshoemuseum.com/ahlam-kaysi/lavender-squeezing-shoe/ [Accessed 18 Feb. 2024].

Fahy, L. (n.d.). Mbatata - Liam Fahy. [online] virtualshoemuseum.com. Available at: https://virtualshoemuseum.com/liam-fahy/mbatata/ [Accessed 18 Feb. 2024].