Metamorphosis of the Sneaker
Shoes have accompanied people and his ancestors for thousands of years. Cave drawings already showed that prehistoric people wore grasses, leaves or animal skins on his feet for protection against the weather, injuries and parasites. However, the stylish sneaker has hardly evolved since its invention more than 100 years ago.
The ARAGON project was created to replace the complex production process, which sometimes involved hundreds of steps and dozens of individual parts. Derived from aragonite, the mineral of fossil ammonites, the shoe itself resembles the fossilized creatures due to its wave-like structure and is reminiscent of an excavation during production using the SLS manufacturing process.
Basically, the shape, materials and processing of modern sneakers were questioned and reduced to a minimum. This resulted in a mono-material sneaker, which can be manufactured in one piece via FDM or SLS printing. Due to the differentiated surface structure, it adapts to the natural movements of the foot and enables a high degree of flexibility thanks to TPU. The advantages are, among other things, the possibility of cost-effective production anywhere in the world, as well as the almost waste-free production. The sneaker’s poor ecological reputation could fade in the future thanks to projects like this one, enabling sustainable production of the popular sneakers.
