mix and match modules for flexibility

 

Challenging the footwear industry’s harmful mass production and waste, Noa Zaidman proposes a solution with a pair of recyclable modular shoes. While most shoes are composed of a mixture of many materials that cannot be broken down, they end up in a landfill, unable to be recycled. Zaidman’s alternative, however, is made simply from two flexible parts — a mono-material 3D printed flexible sole, and a knitted upper crafted entirely out of elastic yarn. The design’s modularity allows wearers the options of washing the upper if needed, replacing a worn out sole, recycling a component, or playing around with different pairings for different looks.

noa zaidman’s recyclable modular shoes mix and match knitted uppers with 3D printed soles
attaching the back to the sole | all images courtesy of Noa Zaidman

 

 

noa zaidman envisions a more sustainable future for footwear

 

‘There is a problem with the footwear industry as we know it,’ notes Noa Zaidman. ‘24.2 billion pairs of shoes are manufactured globally each year and most of them end up in landfills or incinerators.’ A large contributor to this is their materiality – a mixture of synthetics, plastics, and leathers which are unable to separate and be recycled.

 

Resolving this, the designer conceived a shoe comprising two modules, including a knitted upper and TPU outsole. The upper attaches onto the sole by pulling on the elastic cords to the hooks of the base. It is knitted manually on a double bed domestic knitting machine using three ends of an elastic yarn, making it durable and flexible. The cords are knitted from the same yarn to which the different pattern pieces of the upper are also linked, making the module easy to recycle. Meanwhile, the mono-material sole is 3D printed entirely out of a TPU flexible filament. Made without any adhesives, the components are very easy to attach, wear, and take off.

noa zaidman’s recyclable modular shoes mix and match knitted uppers with 3D printed soles
Noa Zaidman proposes a solution to the footwear industry’s waste with a pair of recyclable modular shoes

noa zaidman’s recyclable modular shoes mix and match knitted uppers with 3D printed soles
two flexible parts: a mono-material 3D printed flexible sole, and a knitted upper made of elastic yarn

noa zaidman’s recyclable modular shoes mix and match knitted uppers with 3D printed soles
elastic cords fasten the modules

noa zaidman’s recyclable modular shoes mix and match knitted uppers with 3D printed soles
‘24.2 billion pairs of shoes are manufactured globally each year and most of them end up in landfills or incinerators’

noa zaidman’s recyclable modular shoes mix and match knitted uppers with 3D printed soles
the upper attaches onto the sole by pulling on the elastic cords to the hooks of the base

noa zaidman’s recyclable modular shoes mix and match knitted uppers with 3D printed soles
the modules can we swapped for playing around with different pairings for different looks

 

 

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3D printed from TPU flexible filament
3D printed from TPU flexible filament
a collection of modular shoes that wearers can play around with
a collection of modular shoes that wearers can play around with
process
process

project info:

 

name: Knitted colors
designer: Noa Zaidman

 

 

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: ravail khan | designboom