Zaha Hadid, Fernando Romero, and Ben Van Berkel are making headlines alongside two renowned artists for their 3D printed reinventions of the high heel. A collaborative vision spearheaded by United Nude and 3D Systems, the highly anticipated project was unveiled yesterday at the "Re-Inventing Shoes" exhibition at Milan Design Week.
Each sculptural heel was 3D printed using SelectiveLaser Sintering in a hard Nylon and all-new soft Rubber material, making a "fully functioning" shoe. Only up to 50 pairs of each will be sold. See them all, after the break.
AMMONITE / Fernando Romero
“This shoe uses the most cutting-edge 3D printing technology both in design and execution, but the result is a shoe that could have been an object found in nature, a delicate fossil that has been buried on the bottom of the ocean for millennia.”
UNX2 / UNStudio
“We were particularly interested in the kinds of images the shoe could create, both when static and when in motion. The UNX2 shoe creates patterns of movement and produces a dynamic form of image-making through motion.”
YOUNG Shoe / Michael Young Studio
“Working on this project has allowed us a unique opportunity to explore and expand within a rare dimension. Combined with our own extensive experience in 3D technology we have created a refreshing approach to the way a shoe may be can be perceived.”
ILABO / Ross Lovegrove
“I have used this project to establish a moment where physical innovation in materials density and layered matrix node structuring, are coalesced to enhance the sensuality of the female form whilst remaining clearly technological.”
FLAMES / Zaha Hadid
“The sculptural sensibility and experimentation of Hadid’s architectural language and United Nude’s expertise In manufacturing the most innovative designs has embodied the shoe with the essence of fire - delicate and ephemeral, yet compelling and dynamic.”
News via United Nude
