About two years ago, people would have scoffed at the idea of creating shoes with 3D printing technology. People claimed that it wasn’t possible to 3D print a shoe that would actually be comfortable to wear. Others said that there was no point in doing so, because traditional means of manufacturing have been so successful for so long.
With the calendar turning over to the year 2015, we are in an age where 3D printing and fashion are beginning to go hand in hand. There have been dozens upon dozens of 3D printed shoes created by numerous artists, designers, and companies. While 3D printed shoes aren’t exactly the “in” thing right now, in another several years anything is possible.
Almost two years ago, a device which many believed was “just a toy” burst onto the scenes with an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign. The 3Doodler 3D printing pen raised an astounding $2,344,134 from almost 26,500 backers. It is now available in many retail outlets worldwide, and has proven its skeptics wrong.
One professional origami artist, named Kade Chan, has recently begun using a 3Doodler pen in some of her creations. One of her designs in particular stands out. The 3Doodler High Heels incorporate a little bit of traditional shoe manufacturing into a design created with this 3D printing pen.
“Nowadays [there are] almost no high heels in the market that are absorbing the shock from the ground to your feet,” Chan tells 3DPrint.com. “It’s painful for the ladies to wear high heels all day long, and it’s harmful for their bodies because all the shock impact from the ground to the body [is] absorbed by their spine. Therefore, I would like to design a high heel that can absorb the shock by using [a] metal spring inside the heels [and] also use the 3Doodler [to] create custom high heels according to feet shape, which is more ergonomic.”
And that is what Chan is working on. She has already created one wearable shoe, which is custom designed to the wearer’s foot, providing a comfort that can be unmatched by many other conventionally manufactured shoes. As you can see in the photos, the combination of more traditional means of fabricating footwear was combined with the custom design aspects of the 3Doodler to create a shoe that is both comfortable to wear and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
It should be interesting to see if Chan ends up designing more custom shoes using this innovative method and if other designers try to replicate her idea. What do you think of this 3Doodled shoe design? Discuss in the 3Doodler 3D Printed High Heel forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out some more photos below.
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