30 Shoes in 30 Days

Part of the collection 30 Shoes in 30 Days, in which Jing Yu created one shoe every day using existing materials, embracing playfulness, mistakes, and spontaneity. Following a serious snowboarding accident that left her with a metal plate in her arm, Jing became interested in the relationship between the body, movement, resilience, and metal. This experience continues to influence her handmade metal heels and reconstructed footwear.

Graduation collection – LCF 2026
This mini-collection, graduation project for London College of Fashion in 2026, explores storytelling through upcycled footwear.

By collecting broken and unwanted shoes, she reconstructs them into new silhouettes with strong personalities. Each design reflects movement, emotion, and transformation. Through intuitive making and material experimentation, she creates footwear that feels alive and encourages new relationships between materials and the body.

Jing: ‘ Design is not about perfection, but process. I want to enjoy making, to embrace mistakes, and to let imperfection become part of the work.’

Materials & lifecycle
Jing Yu does not see her footwear as disposable products. Jing: ‘I hope each pair is kept, repaired, and valued over time, developing new memories through wear. Where possible, I work with existing materials that can be repaired, reconstructed, or reused again, extending their life rather than replacing them.’

Future Practice
Jing: “In the future, I hope to collaborate with different local communities by collecting both stories and discarded materials unique to each place. Through conversations, photography, and material collection, the making process becomes a shared experience rather than an individual one.

Each community would shape the outcome differently, allowing reconstructed footwear to reflect local identities, memories, and waste streams, while encouraging people to see value in what already exists.”

JJ World in Tokyo, Shanghai, Helsinki… different discarded materials, different people different stories.

Contact Jing Yu to collaborate!