Artist of the day: Artists of the Day, September 3, 2022: groundbreaking shoe designs (#1638)

A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to culture, with form originally being tied to function. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is still vulnerable to environmental hazards such as sharp rocks and temperature extremes, which shoes protect against. Some shoes are worn as safety equipment, such as steel-toe boots which are required footwear at industrial worksites.

Additionally, fashion has often dictated many design elements, such as whether shoes have very high heels or flat ones. Contemporary footwear varies widely in style, complexity and cost. Basic sandals may consist of only a thin sole and simple strap and be sold for a low cost. High fashion shoes made by famous designers may be made of expensive materials, use complex construction and sell for large sums of money. Some shoes are designed for specific purposes, such as boots designed specifically for mountaineering or skiing, while others have more generalized usage such as sneakers which have transformed from a special purpose sport shoe into a general use shoe.

Traditionally, shoes have been made from leather, wood or canvas, but are increasingly being made from rubber, plastics, and other petrochemical-derived materials. Globally, the shoe industry is a $200 billion a year industry. 90% of shoes end up in landfills, because the materials are hard to separate, recycle or otherwise reuse.

While there may not be any one word to describe our collective state of limbo, one footwear category has emerged, like a gentle intervention, to help us stand astride the void. It’s a water shoe moment.

Water shoes, or amphibious footwear, as those in the industry refer to it, were made for moments defined by being in between. Not quite a sneaker, not simply a sandal, and unequivocally not a Croc, water shoes were designed for ease of movement between water and land, without emphasizing one over the other, all the while allowing feet to dry quickly so as to prevent athlete’s foot.

As far as footwear comes, it is the closest thing to a cure for uncertainty. Or as Teva, the pioneering company in amphibious footwear, used to say: “Free your feet and your mind will follow.”

From Alexander McQueen:
Widely acclaimed as his finest collection, McQueen's final runway presentation, Plato's Atlantis, referenced the legendary island described by the Greek philosopher, which sank into the sea – predicting a future world in which humanity would need to evolve in order to survive. McQueen incorporated cinematic references to sci-fi and fantasy films like Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) and developed a host of new shapes, including the now-iconic Armadillo boot – an entirely new shoe form, without apparent reference to the natural anatomy of the foot; the 3D printed Alien shoe, with its biomorphic, spine-like design, suggesting a sinister combination of biology and mechanics; and the Titanic boot, whose articulated heel and tarnished metal rivets evoke the doomed ocean liner after which it is named.

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