Sustainable Shoe Design

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Stage 1 : Discover

The objective for this project was to create a sustainable shoe by using sustainable and environmentally friendly materials while collaborating with fashion marketing SCAD students.

Our group first met at a SCADStyle presentation. The guest speaker was Joseph Altuzarra, a fashion designer. After the presentation our introduction to industrial design class and a fashion marketing class met in the SCAD museum of art for a private reception. Here we met our team members and Joseph Altuzarra. We were able to speak with Altuzarra one on one and receive feed back on our design.

The next class we discussed the methodology we would be using and what steps needed to be taken to finish this project. We discussed materials, manufacturing, and planned a schedule that would allow us to finish our project on time.

Step 2 : Define

During this stage, we created a quick protoype and discussed the elements needed to create the shoe and what challenges we might face.

We created a rapid prototype based on previous drawings and notes, which helped us make better decisions on materials, the style of straps, and heel support in order to create a more comfortable and functional shoe.

Stage 3 : Develope

During this stage, we tested the manufacturing of the materials, chose which manufacturing process was best, and then continued with our final assembly.

First, we tested laser cutter on a recycled rubber door mat. This would be used for the outsoles of our shoe.

Once we learned how the laser cutter worked, we proceeded to design a template for our shoe on Adobe Indesign to laser cut in the SCAD DigiLab. We four outersoles from the door mat and four midsoles from cork board.

We then proceeded to finish cutting out the recycled rubber mat with the laser cut outersole shoe patterns.

We used leather cememnt to glue the layers of cork together for the midsoles.

Simutaneously, the other half of the group began to assemble the straps for the shoes. The leather was then sealed on the edges with a leather edge coating.

Stage 4 : Deliver

During the final stage, the final leather pieces were added along with a sustainable aluminum snap for ankle support.

A layer of leather was added to the top for durrability, comfort and aesthetic purposes.

The rims of the shoe were also coated in the same leather edge coating used, not only to seal off the cork but for aesthetic purposes as well.

This is the final product worn by a team member,

Josh McLeod. They passed the final test of walking around a large table without falling apart. The overal product proved to be durrable and ready for usage by any other consumer with a US size 11 foot.