Some random nonsense from yesterday. My brother was busy lighting dudes up in Call of Duty so I had some time to kill.
After cleaning out a bunch of old, heavy busted skate shoes from my closet I started to think about ways you could save weight and increase airflow while still preserving durability. After a few trial thumbnails, I landed on a super clean low skate silhouette that I thought was worth exploring.
The main functional element of the upper is the closed seam that separates the durable synthetic leather or nubuck vamp from a breathable 2-layer sandwich mesh in the heel. This will give the sneaker an indestructible front end for flip tricks, while maximizing comfort and airflow in the rear. The placement of the closed seam also maintains the perpendicular line element that has been featured on most of my previous designs. The toecap is designed to be a hot melt synthetic nubuck to add texture. Because the toecap will be bonded to the vamp material through heat, no stitches are necessary.
This was also a chance to loosen up my placement of the logo and stripe detail. After a couple weeks of exploration I determined that a design DNA of all my previous concepts could be maintained with numerous placement executions. I’m pretty happy with the results.
Lately I’ve been thinking about different ways to apply the ‘last’ logo on some of my conceptual designs. I wanted to play around with some large scale branding executions and expand my design aesthetic. Ironically, it was while sketching some directional fashion sneakers that I came across a thumbnail for a mid-cut skate style that would be optimal for a big logo treatment.
Right off the bat, big branding on a shoe is going to alienate a large number of consumers. Combined with a mid-cut collar, this concept is going to appeal to a very select number of sneakerheads. What this shoe boasts is a lightweight foam midsole that is exposed in the heel and concealed in the front by the rubber outsole wrap. This will reduce the weight of the sole greatly while maintaining high abrasion protection from grip tape. The nylon plastic heel clip provides color balance with the forefoot outsole wrap and helps visually maintain a consistent midsole top line.
The blucher construction of the upper and the closed seam between the eyestay and the forefoot quarterpanel will also ensure longer durability against flip tricks. While the double eyelet rows at the collar theoretically provide more lacing options, the second row of eyelets provides aesthetic integration with the large logo embroidery. The laser-cut microperforations of the big logo are balanced with an identical perf pattern on the front quarter.
I’m pretty pleased with the large branding execution. I was worried it would feel contrived or slapped on, but I think the tonal color blocking of the embroidery as well as its integration with the eyelets make it feel like an intentional design element. This design would make a great performance skate shoe and the slim forefoot would serve you well with bike clips.
