For over a decade, footwear model Vivobarefoot has been on a mission to rethink footwear design, bringing it nearer to nature and our pure foot structure. As the corporate says, “the human foot is a biomechanical masterpiece”, so why not embrace that in footwear design by creating footwear which might be, as they are saying, “as near barefoot as potential.” The corporate’s newest product, a customizable 3D printed barefoot sandal, may be very a lot according to this mission.
The 3D printed sandal, mentioned to be the primary of its sort, is named the VivoBiome Tabi Gen 01, and is being launched in a really restricted run of simply 590 pairs. Vivobarefoot is admittedly taking the customization to coronary heart, not simply permitting clients to decide on their dimensions and shade, however inviting clients to their in-store scanning stations to bear a full foot 3D scan. At current, only some Vivobarefoot outlets are rolling the VivoBiome tailor-made providing out, particularly their areas in London and Bristol, UK.
The scan-to-print course of (which makes use of SLS 3D printing) leads to a pair of split-toe sandals which might be constructed for the wearer and designed to help their pure gait and posture, offering higher stability than off-the-shelf, mass-produced footwear. The 3D printed sandal additionally integrates an outsole construction engineered for traction on a wide range of surfaces. The bespoke sandal is retailing for £140 and is available in 4 colorways: obsidian black, mineral gray, forest inexperienced and earth brown.
Along with the personalized match of the sandal, Vivobarefoot is keen to roll-out a made-to-order strategy, which can allow it to cut back stock inventory and enhance its sustainability by means of on-demand and localized manufacturing. As Asher Clark, Vivobarefoot co-founder mentioned: “We’ve taken one of many oldest instruments of humanity and introduced it into the longer term. Customized match, higher to your physique, and higher for the planet.”
The VivoBiome Tabi Gen 01 is the product of a ongoing exploration of additive manufacturing at Vivobarefoot. For a while now, the corporate has been investigating using 3D printing to ascertain extra circularity in footwear manufacturing. The truth is, we spoke to co-founder Asher Clark and VivoBiome computational design lead Pete Davis final yr to find out about their targets and use of AM final yr. On the time, the footwear model had simply fashioned a partnership with supplies firm Balena, which makes a speciality of compostable biopolymer formulations. After we requested whether or not Vivobarefoot was desirous about completely utilizing AM in its manufacturing, Clark mentioned it was not a query of if, however when.
