• Printed Footwear

Bespoke anything never comes cheaply and a new pair of kicks can easily cost you $900 dollars a pop! Thanks to the likes of Andre Dettler footwear fanatics can avoid the middle man and print straight from the comfort of their own homes with the release of his domestic 3D printing system, equipped with a convenient iPhone connection.

3D printing technology has gone commercially viral; this exciting method of 3D printing was originally used in industrial manufacturing prototypes. The capabilities of 3D printing technology allows for more diverse and complex print creations, so much so that 3D printing technology has now even reached the food industry. Technology giants Phillips are undergoing studies into the ‘food creation concept’ which will see people heading to the printer rather than Prett for their lunches!

In celebration of the revolutionary technology we take a look at some of the best 3D shoe print designers around, all displaying unique aesthetics within their design but with practical concepts resulting in something close to functional wearable art.

Brian Oknyansky

Oknyansky is an international award winning designer dedicated to bringing shoe printing to the masses. He began designing shoes for haute couture label ‘Kimberit ‘in 2011. The success of his avant- guard collection inspired him to take his expertise further where he became transfixed with ‘technology and beauty’; using 3D printing as a medium he created formidable printed shoes. Bryan now holds his own label ‘Bryan Oknyansky ‘where he creates bespoke shoe designs using CAD software to give a unique quality and design aesthetics to each piece. To gain precise precision Bryan implements data such as foot measurements into the CAD software to achieve a truely perfect fit. The latest wearable art collections from Oknyansky include ‘Split Heels’ and ‘Heavy Metal series’ both of which are visually electric!





Pauline Van Dongen

Back in 2010 Pauline Van Dongen explored 3D shoe printing whilst completing her Master’s at Dutch school ArtEZ. Dongen paved the way producing shoes with unique designs for her collection which collaborated with ‘FOC’ entitled ‘Morphogenesis’. As an emerging designer at the time Dongen’s work can only be regarded as inspirational in terms of her design concept and working with a newly devised medium of 3D print to produce truly stunning wearable art.




Marieka Ratsma & Kostika Spaho

Ratsma and Spaho joined forces in 3D shoe printing both brought together a bio-artistic high heel shoe inspired by the formations of a bird’s skull. The inspirational concept explores true design innovation; the shoe’s stark minimal overtones within the design mimic the visual characteristics of the skeletal features a bird. The formation and the architecture of the heel can be closely identified as the beak of the bird. ‘Bird Skull Shoes’ are yet to go on sale but can be admired in a New York exhibition ‘Shoe Obsession’.



Luc Fusaro & Nike

Luc Fusaro is an engineer designer who has been able to develop his expert skills into practical wearable trainers specialising in producing custom made sprinting shoes. The concept of his design is to improve the performance of an athlete’s game, Luc Fusaro branded the piece ‘designed to win’. The engineering is of the shoe is designed through computer software where the key part of the performance of the shoe lays in the sole. This precision of the mechanical properties allows the athlete to reach optimum levels of execution to achieve their desired goal.

Nike has not long released ‘vapour laser talon football cleat’ and they are one of the first sports labels to produce trainer designs using the method of 3D printing. The ‘Vapour Laser’ trainers design has been created to develop an athlete’s performance of the ‘zero step’ which is the moment speed can be accelerated, ultimately giving the athlete advantage over his component.




Ross Barber

The collection ‘A Wrong Mongrel’ by Ross Barber is 3D printed shoe collection that displays an exciting collection of entwined dimensions. Ross Barber clearly demonstrates the complex capabilities 3D shoe printing and creates the most visually exiting wearable art. In his collection that he presented at ‘Graduate Expo’ at the London College of Fashion portrays his inspiration of ‘metamorphosis ‘within the design process.




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