I remember spending hours on end watching YouTube videos and reading about this subject, I was so obsessed that I used to love going with my grandma to her chiropody appointments, so I could see her doctor to get so many insights about shoes, I was so lucky that she was as passionate about shoes as I was.
Then this passion developed into sketching, customising and finally designing and making my own pair of sneakers from scratch.
The pair of shoes that I want to share with you, has a very important set of meanings to me; I wanted to use this project as a way to honour my Venezuelan’s heritage, I wanted to pay tribute to that beautiful country and its brave people fighting injustice. I felt the need helping to raise awareness of the injustice system and how a dictatorial regime has caused so much sadness by systematically oppressing their people. But more importantly, I also wanted to take a message of optimism and light to the Venezuelan’s people in dark times.
I wanted to fully immerse into this project, I wanted to curate every single aspect of it; therefore, I started to research into contemporary art produced by Venezuelan artists, watching some interviews done to different Venezuelans’ artists, watching documentaries, I wanted to soak in as much as I could whilst going through so many interesting ideas, concepts and sketches.
I got inspiration from an iconic pair of sneakers, Jordan 1 and 3; I felt that its cultural significance would be a perfect design to convey some of my message and tribute to bravery, transformation, perseverance. I have chosen to replicate the Jordan 1 model for this project with a twist from Jordan 3 colour wave, due to its cultural significance; these sneakers are associated with rebellion and identity (Against uniform rules – fines), a symbol of defiance-perseverance (In despite the fines and criticism – Michale Jordan kept wearing them), a transformative design - from athletes’ footwear to a fashion cultural piece.
The design showcases a recycled wool coversheet for the most outer layer, which base colour- somber and material’s feeling symbolizes sadness and the dictatorial regime; dark, murky and twisted. But, as tragic and sad as the situation can be, I also wanted to honour and celebrate how special this place is in present times, and to do so I chose to incorporate some colours to this layer inspired by the Venezuela’s flag; as a result, I decided to hydro dip the canvas to incorporate a swirl of the colours found in the Venezuelan’s flag; yellow to represent the vibrance, sunshine and optimism; blue to represent its beautiful beaches and, red to represent the fight, bravery and perseverance of their people fighting against the regime, and white to represents the stars guiding their way forward.
Underneath all that recycled wool coversheet layer, there is a pair of white Jordan 1- inspired sneaker made from scratch, and as I mentioned before I have also taken inspiration from the Jordan 3, specifically the white and grey “elephant print” – grey representing the dictatorial regime darkness. The white to represent pureness, new beginnings and peace; in Venezuela, people use this colour to express their rejection against government.
I also decided to use a grey snake skin pattern, this has two meaning; it symbolises danger, poison-venomous. However, it can also symbolise shedding old skin, transformation, new beginnings for the country; I like the ambiguity of this symbol, as the same symbol can be interpreted in different ways.
The shoes have been designed for the outer layer- recycled wool- to be ripped away; to reveal a beautiful pair of shoes, made of soft yet strong canvas – upper, made by hand, to hold the memory of who wears them. The outer layer represents the regime, and the turmoil caused to the country, but the actual shoes (the upper part - canvas) represent the country; therefore, once the outer layer-recycled wool is ripped, which by it recyclable essence implies temporary nature of its existence, it’s true essence gets revealed, a beautiful country to be rediscovered once the regime comes to an end. The style chosen for the canvas are the same used for the hydro dipping test, as I really liked the vibrance of the colours, truly intense and the paints adhered the best to the canvas compared to the other materials tested. The final message that I wanted to convey with this piece was that in spite of the injustice, sadness and oppression taking place in Venezuela, the essence of the country and its people cannot be destroyed, it can be tarnished, but once the outer layer is pierced- you can see its essence; a beautiful country with beautiful people.
Here is the formal complete history of the product from idea- concepts- sketches- materials- processes to final product, feel free to have a look and dive into the entire process.
See images below,
Enjoy…