Reinforce

The collection Reinforce is based on the fact that the world is surrounded with an immense quantity of floating satellites. They stand for; fragile, fragmentation, enclosure and shell. I’ve creased en carved the leather and strengthened the surface with methods as oils, pressing techniques and fixation fluids. The leather shells are made out of one piece, evolved out of constructing leather around a last and whereupon I carved a pattern. These creases create a three dimensional shape which hides parts of accentuates parts of the foot.

Part of the final collection ENCAPSULATED, 2013. This collection exists of 3 different approaches: Hypogravity, Reinforce and Gravitation. A research project on new forms for women’s shoes. It is based on visualizations of a future in which space travel is a common practice. Space age visualization as a genre has its roots in modernist tradition – take for example the work of fashion designer André Courrège – but is still very much alive today. After collecting and studying this kind of image material my next step was to translate certain of its characteristics into a set of constructions, materials and ways of detailing for women’s shoes.

© Nienke van Dee