What comes out if you combine the flexibility of auxetic materials (if you don't know what they are, take a look here) with 3D printing? Well, a lot of things: probably the last thing you would think of is a shoe, I guess. And instead.
Auxetic Wear is a new shoe concept designed by WertelOberfell. In summary, it's a shoe that fits the wearer's feet all day: it's not elastic, if that's what you're asking. An elastic garment gets thinner when pulled, Auxetic Wear just expands.
Feet are not always the same
I guess I've already answered your question: what is this shoe for? Our feet don't stay the same all day. Seriously, they swell, they expand depending on how they're used. Is it a mystery that on our return home after a day out and about we have to take off our shoes because our feet are like two bagpipes?
Here: with this shoe there is no danger. Auxetic Wear expands or compresses following any part of the foot and any of its movements.
The genesis of an adaptive shoe
The designers created a basic structure, a sort of skeleton of the shoe: a first step that cost dozens and dozens of initial tests.
This fixed “scaffolding” supports the auxetic fabric, and acts as a reinforcement a bit like a car frame reinforces the whole. The fabric, 3D printed using a sturdy thermoplastic polyurethane, is sewn onto the sole exactly like a normal shoe.
The final result? A modern boot. What can I say: post-modern. It looks like a prop taken straight from a Star Trek installment, but it was actually designed to be pretty much the perfect shoe.
If it was already on sale I would try it.
