TEXTILES.ORG
The ecological impact of footwear is on the minds of researchers and designers working in 3D printing. Here are three projects in progress.
Modular kids’ shoes that ‘grow’
What if a shoe could adapt to a growing child’s foot? That’s a question that product designer Michele di Carlo is tackling with his product 4Steps, 3D-printed and -knitted modular children’s shoes. The 4Steps shoes accommodate five sizes each for children ages 6–14. The keys are the 3D printing of the replaceable parts, the adaptable design and the 3D knitting of an upper from stretchy fabric. They’re designed to be flexible, to accommodate proper foot movement and, being for kids, they’re designed to be fun, as colors of the parts are customizable.
“For me, design must always follow function,” di Carlo says. “It is not just an exercise in style but a solution to real needs.”
He is looking for partnerships to take the product to the next steps in commercialization.
PHA: 3D-printed and -knitted
OXMAN unveiled O°, a tech platform that has produced a collection of 3D-printed and -knitted shoe prototypes made of biodegradable bacteria-produced polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and pigments. The designs vary as far as their combination of 3D printing and 3D knitting, contain no glues and won’t produce microplastics.
“PHAs have long been recognized as a promising alternative to petroleum-based plastics,” notes Neri Oxman, CEO and founder of the company.
The textile uppers are created through 3D knitting of PHA-based yarn made through a process of extrusion and melt spinning. The upper then has 3D printing applied to create reinforcement, cushioning, strength and pliability. It’s a near zero-waste production process and requires minimal human involvement.
The company is seeking partners to scale the production and bring the shoes and textiles to market.
Its website describes its mission thusly: “We operate at the intersection of computational design, biology, robotics, green chemistry and ecological engineering.”
3D printing material from recycled leather
AIMPLAS Plastics Technology Centre, Pikolinos, Evatalking and the Footwear Technology Centre of La Rioja are collaborating on the ECOFAP Project, focused on reducing the amount of leather waste sent to landfills from footwear manufacturing.
The ECOFAP Project aims to develop a new 3D printing material based on recycled tanned leather scraps that can be used to make different components in fashion, footwear and textiles, such as shoe soles and heels. The challenge is reducing the size of leather scraps to 10 microns to post-process it as a secondary raw material. Researchers have been testing different percentages of micronized leather with various polymers whose mechanical properties make them suitable as footwear filaments for 3D printing.
AIMPLAS Plastics Technology Centre is a research institute in Valencia, Spain; Pikolinos is a leather shoes and accessories brand; Evatalking is a materials producer in Alicante, Spain; and the Footwear Technology Centre of La Rioja is a research and development institute in La Rioja, Spain.