Sneaker Lovers Can Get Their Kicks With These Cool Items

Now, you can own a part of advertising history.
Freedom Of Creation (FOC) designers, Janne Kyttanen and Mads Thomsen, produced this Laser Sintered creation for the international ad agency Amsterdam Worldwide for its client Onitsuka Tiger ‘ASICS’ premium heritage brand and the ad campaign called Electric Tigerland. (By the way, the recent Tansu Shoe for Onitsuka Tiger by Amsterdam Worldwide won a Gold Lion at the 2010 Cannes Advertising Festival for design)

The meter-long shoe called the ‘Electric Light Shoe’ was central to the global Electric Tiger Land campaign for 2008. The 70 cm and 40 cm sized versions were created for Onitsuka Tiger stores world-wide and are now available for purchase.

Several additional designs were produced by FOC to support the campaign such as USB sticks, keyholders, POS material, shoe displays etc. and now you can buy some of these items.

The Electric Shoe
Created for the 2008 Onitsuka Tiger brand campaign, The Electric Light Shoe was the 2nd in the series of iconic sneaker sculptures developed from the agency's ‘Made of Japan’ strategy.



The one meter long ‘city in a sneaker’ was inspired by and pays homage to the Toyko cityscape and provided a platform to tell more stories about the brand to engage the target audience.





The sculpture was used in POS, online and television advertising and received numerous awards and now is your chance to own one.

Electric Light Shoe (large, 70 cm and small, 40cm)
Limited consumer edition of 10 pieces
Type: Media art developed in cooperation with 'Amsterdam Worldwide' for Onitsuka Tiger campaign
Color: White with LED colored lights
Material: Laser Sintered Polyamide
Designers: Janne Kyttänen & Mads Thomsen 2007
Awards: Titanium Lion, International Advertising Fest. Cannes 2008, Dutch Design Awards 2008, Integrated Silver, ADCN 2009
Price for Large (excl. VAT): € 5879.83 buy it here
Price for Small (excl. VAT): € 1678.15 buy it here
Delivery Time: 6 weeks

The USB Shoe (sold as 4 pieces)
And the USB memory shoe – a tiny replica of ‘Electric Light Shoe’ that once activated, the key diffuses a soft illumination, is also available.



Type: 2 GigaByte USB-stick
Color: White with colored LED
Material: Laser Sintered Polyamide
Designer: Janne Kyttänen 2008
Price (excl. VAT): € 81.51
Delivery Time: 2 weeks
buy it here.


Shoe Sculpture Charm (sold as 4 pieces)
A metal miniaturized reproduction of FOC’s ‘Electric Light Shoe’ which can be used as a key ring, pendant or charm is also available for purchase.



Type: Miniature reproduction
Material: Stainless steel
Designer: Janne Kyttänen 2008
Price (excl. VAT): € 81.51
Delivery Time: 2 weeks
buy it here.

Two Fashion Forces Fuse: Iris van Herpen x United Nude

I was both surprised and excited when I received the following press release, given that I'd blogged about both these fashion designers/companies separately and had no idea they'd ever collaborate. Luckily for me (and you) coutourier Iris van Herpen and architectural shoe company United Nude joined forces to release a collaborative pair of wild high-heeled shoes that does justice to both their talents and styles.




The press release:
United Nude, an iconic brand at the intersection between design and fashion is open-minded towards creative talent. After two successful collaborations with Dutch fashion designer Antoine Peters, United Nude and Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen joined forces to create shoes for van Herpen’s Autumn Winter 2010 collection.

The shoes were presented in her catwalk show during London fashion week and the collaboration shall soon be available as a limited edition item, only available at the world’s most exclusive retailers and at the United Nude flagship and concept stores in Amsterdam, New York, Shanghai and Vienna at a retail price of $1,295 USD (EURO 1,000)








The Iris van Herpen X United Nude product is a glamorous ankle bootie with smooth round lines and golden leather detailing on the front and back of the shoe, with three-dimensional characteristics. Transparency, reflections and movements create the effect of visual estrangement.



The construction of the shoe is so complicated and precise that each pair is 100% hand-made with the highest grade Italian kid leather available.



Therefore, the production of this unique product has been kept to the very low number of 240 limited edition pairs worldwide of which 168 are in black with gold and 72 in ivory with gold.




United Nude’s Creative Director Rem D Koolhaas reflected on the collaboration by saying: “I was introduced to Iris after I had admired her work. I offered to make shoes for her, as I know that for fashion designers shoes always come as an afterthought and most fashion designers don’t have the resources to get it all done on time. I think the result of our work together is that of a pure and successful collaboration as her identity and our expertise and craftsmanship are joined in this marvelous product”.

Iris van Herpen
United Nude

United Nude: Shoes With A Blueprint

In 2003 a Dutch architect from an architects family and an English shoemaker from a shoemakers family decided to start a brand. Disillusioned with fashion and not wanting to be yet another shoe brand or architecture firm, a design company was born – set on releasing specific, iconic products and rejecting broad seasonal ranges. The products evolve in projects from international teams (United) in an open way with direct recognition (Nude).


Above left; Rem D. Koolhaas and right, Galahad Clark

The company has several fabulous styles of shoes now and continues to grow in both styles and staff. It was originally co-founded by Rem D. Koolhaas (Rem D. Koolhaas is the nephew of better known architect Rem Koolhaas and distinguishes himself from his uncle with the middle inital) and English shoemaker Galahad JD Clark, who is a seventh generation shoe maker from the Clarks family in Somerset. Galahad took over the running of Terra Plana, an eco friendly shoe company, in 2003.

The concept of the company was and still is to meld architectural design and unusual materials with product design, creating unusual but functional shoes. United Nude is part of a creative collective, functioning as a hub of interaction between architects, fashion designers, magazine editors and photographers.

Each single pair of shoes is a reinterpretation of an architectural object or represents an exploration of different materials and colours: the first shoe created by United Nude was called “Möbius” and it was inspired by the Barcelona chair created by Bauhaus director Mies Van Der Rohe for the International Exposition in 1929. The uniqueness of this special sandal stood in the fact that it was characterized by a single strip that formed the sole, heel, foot-bed and upper of the shoe.


Above: the Barcelona chair as the inspiration for the Mobius shoe

Mobius
In the Ultra mobius, a single piece unites the sole, heel, footbed and upper, a revolutionary achievment in shoe construction and design.




The Mobius is also available in hi and mid heel heights as well as in other color leathers, below are a few examples.


Eamz


Ray and Charles Eames' famous aluminum office chairs inspired the “Eamz” series, featuring pumps and sandals, even a tech sandal, that integrate the chair foot into the heel of the shoe, a feature that seems to suspend it in mid-air.





Stealth


The “Stealth” is a dynamic platform shoe inspired by the straight lines and styling of the Stealth F117 Nighthawk fighter plane. It's available as a peep toe pump and as a sandal as well.



Porn
The Porn Toe and Porn Toe Buckle styles are made from molding the strongest plastics in the world so the floating foot bed can function and support all while appearing to defy gravity.



above: Porn toe in mirrored silver patent leather


Mono Jane
Molded from very lightweight EVA material, this shoe claims to be the world's lightest weight wedge and comes in tons of fun colors.



Mono also comes in a flat ballet slipper like version.

Cosmo
the Ultra Cosmo uses hand molded carbon fiber for the light weight construction, creating a high-technology piece of art with sex appeal.




The Cosmo Ultra has a heel height of 11 centimeters, and is limited to production of only a few hundred pairs.

Also new for Spring Summer 2009 are the No.2 and the Six strap styles.

No.2
The No.2 is made of a tech nylon heel and available in four bright patent leather colors or two striped elastic versions.



Six Strap
The Six Strap comes in four different elasticized variations, one in solid black and three striped variations.



To learn more, see prices or to purchase any of the above shoes shown, go here.

Be sure to see their other styles and other color variations at United Nude.

If shoes made with unusual and or eco-friendly materials interest you, be sure to check out

Melissa Shoes of Brazil here.


Don't miss this more recent post on United Nude's Spring and Summer releases: