Ah....FIVE FINGERS !

Generally, when we speak Five Fingers in our field, One brand comes in mind. Invented in 1999 by Robert Fliri, a design student who wanted to "figure out a way to move around in nature better." Vibram FiveFingers were developed and introduced in 2005.

Okay, I won't bore you with any biomechanics, nor good or bad, neither minimalism nor lawsuits from or against the brand Vibram. Wikipedia and running forums seem to be the right addresses for all of this.

Even if I would, I could have mentioned the beautiful craftmanship of those Vibram shoes, the precise patern engineering whitnessing through quality the time spent in between the first prototype to the first product delivery.

I could have written about how Vibram made afficionados along the way.... Adidas quality is certainly out of question, but  shape wise, it looks to me difficult to paralell the Italian/american patern engineering secrets.

I could have also spent time writing about another Vibram's friend FILA and....

I could at least spend more time speaking of this second skin, fully made in urethane or TPU and injected by our british friends at INOV8.

In fact, The reason of this article lies in a personal discovery when I visited the imperial war Museum in London in july 2012. In theWWII section, precisely in the british/japanese sector, I discovered the unbelievable piece of footwear.

Having lost the picture of my discovery, I ask the courtesy of my Good Friend Yves, to investigate for me the mystery of the WWII five finger shoe. Here's what he sent to me.

In the field the royal secret agents were also given these overshoes (above) to disguise their footprints. They were especially useful in the Pacific where Japanese path-finders would mistake the prints for barefoot natives.

Thank you Yves for your support and fast inquiery.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2416030/Christine-Granville-Britains-female-special-agent-paved-way-liberation-France.html#ixzz3j6zUS0s0

The story doesn't tell if student Robert Fliri visited this section of the Imperial war Museum...

WHEN I DON'T KNOW....BUT FRIENDS ARE HELPING.

This is a story about alpine ski boots. I am a bad skier but I always been attracted by the techy style of ski boots. My good friend Bob Monahan is a talented skier. Back in 2010, we spent time together speaking about what skiers generaly would apreciate for their boots. The thing started and became what follows below.

Another great friend of mine, Kota Tsukamoto and talented ski boot designer at Tecnica looked at the outcome and gave me some non confidential comments on how the shoe features could benefit to some fearless skiers. 

Among the manufacturers, I thought the Austrian Head would be the right pick. This brand looks to me at the pinacle of performance and precision.  Plus this is a tribute to my inspirator,  Bob and Head being his favorite brand.

As a beginner, It took me bit of documentary researches on how the boots where made,  I found the best teacher through the documents available at GOOGLE PATENTS.

A study based on boot shapes and analogies to product or automotive design. 

There is to me no project without values or key words, neither analogies nor  defined objectives.

Cold Feet answer.

Features

Early sketches

The Result. A boot for performers, with a concern for thermo regulation and comfort and little other improvements.  a counter answer to those who think being an athlete means training while  accepting pain and sufferings.

Even if this boot remains a fiction, its been designed with the scope of these massifs in Alaska, where Bob loves to descent few minutes after being heli ported.

SILHOUETTE IS EVERYTHING TO ME. (part4)

In Tennis, We seem to have a new leader: Asics. 

It looks like in 2015, the most sold tennis shoes worldwide are Asics.

There might be different reasons in which fit, comfort, stability blah blah play a significant role. Most of the people I have been talking to, are eventually praising the running spirit brought by the Japanese brand, in a place where the others are still doing remarkable tennis shoes. 

Running difference can be material driven, but I see here Asics being the sleekest silhouettes of the market and I also see wider collar openings. lets have a look at this collar area few seconds.

I selected Three of the Nike top tennis products. the zoom Cage, The Federer's vapor 9,5 and the Nadal's zoom Ballistec. I could have selected other brands, but I found these three shoes significant for this collar measurement topic as if those modified models where following the asics upper mesurement standards.

It is funny to see how the same shoes above and here below look faster and lighter just by collar height and lenght modifications.

I would admit that the Nadal's Ballistec is so closed to a basketball shoe silhouette that turning its shape with running attributes, make it for sure visually lighter but less impactfull in term of character.

At Wilson Tennis, we had a similar situation with the Rush pro 1 (designed by IDW agency) with a short collar that made a long shoe body (Longer feet impression for the players). 

We resolved that topic by using a collar measurements half way in between tennis and running standards for the Wilson Rush pro 2.0. It is interesting to see how pure running standards (110 mm collar lenght for size 9 US) are following the basic grid of PHI (golden number).

Comments are welcome....

SILHOUETTE IS EVERYTHING TO ME. (part3)

As far as I can remember, products specialists at Nike always seemed to be cautious with design, colors, semantics and product gesture. this state of mind can be read for minimum 2 decades in soccer. 

A close look at the category designer's portfolios shows us that silhouette and shapes are a matter, from drawing to final products. here en of the 90's

Here begining of the new century (courtesy of K Fallon).

Here for the 2007 Mercurial Vapor (courtesy of T Minami). 

But the world cup held in Brazil, introduced new kind of products, rather  shaped and closer to the foot from an upper prospective but flatten from the sole prospective. The shape dynamic of the arch of the foot is suddenly reversed. this happening is visible on Magista series and Hyper Venom series.

Those shapes remind me a bit of this red line which emphasize the shape that singularized the first generation of BMW 1 series, the car the german called: "hung stomached pig". 

A carefull look at the sketches and explorations, shows the intention of the designer to stick to a shaped arch area. But industry reality seem to fail supporting the initiative. New lasts, new constructions, new manufacture model can damage a final product in the eyes of silouhette addicts...like me. (courtesy of D Dekovic).

I played a little game of reshaping the Magista and blacked out the silhouettes. which one would you pick?

Regarding the HyperVenom 2, I found the same designer scope as per the Magista, the speed attitude. (courtesy of Nikeinc.com) 

I played a little game of reshaping the Hypervenom 2 as per designers objectives and blacked out the silhouettes. Would you be more seduced by the one on the right? I would. 

I did here the opposite. What If the Mercurial Vapor, symbol of speed, was modified to the silhouette of a current venom or Magista? Would you find it as attractive as .....

 ......This FATAL beauty?

SILHOUETTE IS EVERYTHING TO ME. (part2)

Those who know me well can affirm that I am everything but sexist.  I could not start the second part of this subject without a picture of the probably most achieved silhouette ever. Women. 

Women hip curves remind me of the surface transition that occure in between the body of an aircraft and its wings. the same kind of shape found on feet and shoe lasts. I am found of silhouettes, maybe motivated by my latin and carribean origines. I am found of aircraft history as well. That makes sense isn't it?

In the aircraft world, from the 20's silhouette played an important role. aerodynamic,  dedication of the model, recognition, weight and power, and a myriad of details that makes a difference. In this particular case, these two propelled aircrafts show differences, the F 4 corsair looks sleeker than the F6 hellcat. We can spot the same attributes when we speak footwear. 

Are you up for a little game:
It consists to frame how the silhouette in footwear matters.. This game doesn't offend anyone's design initiative. These are two Adidas products for soccer players. the top one is the F50 adizero 2014. The one below is an unknown product found at www. tepy.pl.  We will call the top one NICE because....., the lower one the UGLY because..... 

I played the NICE with a sleek silhouette. I played the UGLY with a flat silhouette. needless to say, I expect most of the readers with a preference for NICE.

In this Picture, I reversed the silhouettes. I would be interested to hear  or read which one you would favour?

Blacking out the silhouettes, I personally made my mind.

The game consisted to play the silhouettes with a background of two lasts, one shaped, one flat. do you believe me when I say : its not about lines nor colors nor materials, but all about shapes and silhouettes first? Footwear is all about Lasts to me. and you?

SILHOUETTE IS EVERYTHING TO ME. (part1)

A bit of apparel for soccer would you? In the scope of the world cup 2010 in held in south africa, I have  been requested to participate to the innovation genesis. There is nothing more to me than an eye to silhouette in order to start the job. I started as far behind as the modern years could get me and arbitrary choosed 1980 as a starting date to run an evolution sight of 40 years.

It is funny to see how silhouette and styles evolved over 4 decades. Look carefully how the jersey from close to the body, slowly enlarged in the nineties and slowly streched bonds like a base layers would do. A look at the shorts would also show an evolution both in shapes and lenghts.

This Formotion research made in 2006 with work partners Martina, Andrea and Nina, got us right in term of silhouette scope for 2008 to 2010 soccer events.

We worked over molded shoulders, visible inner reinforced technology  and an allround 3D body shaped outfit that would ease athletes movements. The principle called FORMOTION.

One regret though, excepted for cycling and skiing outfits, current soccer outfit still look very flat these days, either in construction and pattern making either in visual depth. But I still hope one brand will embrace one day this vision of a real reinforced taylored fit.

HIGH AND WIDE

These two men are probably known as the Maximalism Gurus : Jean Luc Diard and Nicolas Mermoud, two french guys who want to Maximalise the world.

Their Brand: Hoka One One.

Did you know? Before founding the Brand Hoka, J.L Diard worked and seemed to experience his Maximalism fundamentals with the Italian brand Tecnica in between 2007 and 09.

The Maximalism initiative and success created a serie of well known afficionados. few examples here, not an exhaustive list.

Under Armour pushed the analogy with the semantic of the bikes big tires implementing a partnership with french manufacturer Michelin for a daring trail category product. 

The majority of the Industry actors have been convicted to integrate a maximalist item in their collections......all but one.This is the only picture found of a contemporary maximalist running shoe made by Giant Nike. this shoe seems to be prototyped only.

We all seem to speak about Maximalism since 2009 for the runners addicts , 2011 for the magazine readers.  I personally believe in an era of Maximalism 20 years before the first Tecnica initiative some days Back to 1987 with the Iconic AIR MAX ONE.

What did you had in mind Mr Hatfield when you pushed the boundaries with the very first AIR MAX....imalist?