rebel shoe rebel bag
Design, editing Michael Frederiksen, Just Add Design
+ The Rebel Shoe. Rebel Bag. project is part of the strategic collaboration between Design School Kolding and ECCO. This book was printed with support from ECCO.
Photography Michael Frederiksen and the student groups.
Proofreading Marianne Baggesen Hilger
Participants from ECCO Scott Lee Roberts, Jens Peter Bredvig, Alexander Villamor, Claus Ravn, Jan Boysen, Ella Madsen, Antonio Fernando Casimiro Soares, Birthe Winther, Charlotte Jakobsen, Dorte Nicolaisen, Hanne Zimmermann, Hans Willi Staack, Herle Thøstesen, Karen Jørgensen, Knud Jørgensen, Laila Schmidt, Lene Riggelsen, Majad Al-Shohani, Nancy Schmidt, Niels Davidsen, René Andersen, Roselyn Schildt, Terene Andersen,Ulrich Tessendorff, Jan Motzkus, Ib Overgaard, Ramona Munteanu, Fitri Nugraha, Helle Schmidt, Paula Oliveira, Junior Amaral, Ejnar Truelsen, Liam Maher, Bjarne Zaedow, Iben Thode Johansen, Aleksandra Woroniecka, Julie Farrier, Mette Lange Minke, Sarah Bertmann, Kimmie Brinch, Lena-Maria Heiler, Jeppe Jensen, Wrya Aziz, Susanne Carstensen and Tina Seirup Nielsen.
© 2020
Design School Kolding Departments of fashion, textile, accessory and industrial design Ågade 10 6000 Kolding +45 76301100 dk@designskolenkolding.dk www.designskolenkolding.dk ISBN 978-87-93416-41-3 (printed version) ISBN 978-87-93416-42-0 (digital version)
rebel shoe rebel bag
Partnership
To Design School Kolding our partnership with ECCO is very important. Our relationship with the world around us and with companies is all important. This is where we create meaningful learning spaces for our students. Allow me to give an example. In November 2019, we engaged in an event at Parsons School of Art and Design in Manhattan, New York, focusing on design and sustainable practices. At the event a student of ours presented a project completed in collaboration with ECCO. I am proud to say this presentation received the biggest applause, because it demonstrated where a collaboration between students, some of the world’s top shoe designers at ECCO, and the teaching and research at our school can lead. We know from innovation research that partnerships between public and private organisations can be one of the keys for success. If we walk together, we are able to go much further. At the heart of the journey are our students. When students are allowed the opportunity to learn in different settings, they achieve profound insight into the newest technology, the most advanced professional knowledge, and research.
by Lene Tanggaard, Rector of Design School Kolding
As an educational institution and perhaps the smallest university in the world, we want to reflect and even sometimes be ahead of our time. This is the only way for us to continuously achieve what we want, which is to be an experimental and pioneering school. In the field of design this is crucial. Because design is the glue that holds things together. Design brings joy and excitement. It is a glue that empowers us. It helps us to experiment together. It enables our students to learn more and experience, at an early stage, that they can contribute with their ideas and competences. As rector it is my hope that this collaboration and partnership will continue to bear fruit; low-hanging fruits and ones that are high up in the tree and still hidden.
karoline elsig kristian k. stougaard annesofie bundell yousra laissaoui maria s. kirk
The concept of our shoe is based on the theme survivalism. If you look up the word “survivalism” in a dictionary, you can read the following explanation:
“Survivalism is a movement of individuals or groups (called suvivalists or preppers) who actively prepare for emergencies…” Inspired by this we chose to base our rebel on a persona living in the near future who is around the age of 25 to 30, who is able to compromise his comfort in order to survive. He is able to adjust and adapt his habits in changing environments and makes quick decisions when needed. He scavenges and can improvise in different situations and is always ready to move from place to place.
d2
d2
In order for our rebel to be able to survive, he needs the right gear and utilities. Therefore, we have designed a shoe that helps him endure and adapt to changing environments and extreme climates. The shoe is versatile and durable and made from strong and high-quality materials for a long-lasting product.
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The rebel shoe has several features that will benefit the user in different situations: •
The sole is made from a flexible material which will increase your running speed and enable you to jump long distances.
•
It has a thick, attached tongue, which will protect you from falling debris and rubble, absorbing the blow as it hits.
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It has a light in the front with two modes: either a constant light that will guide you in the dark or a blink function to alert others of your presence.
•
It contains a floatable device, which can be removed and attached to the upper part of your arm for floatation.
d2
d2
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The first shoe is for protection and has the tongue function, which will absorb any blows to your foot. Furthermore, it contains a wind-resistant sleeve for your leg allowing you to keep warm. The second shoe contains the element of floatation and swimming. It is made of neoprene so you are able to swim in it, but it also has a removable blow-up device, which can be attached to your arm and serve as a water wing. This shoe also contains the wind-resistant sleeve. The third shoe is for running and jumping. The sole is made with a spring effect, which will enable you to take longer strides while running and jumping.
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•
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For the commercial shoes we decided to separate the main features of our rebel shoe:
Stages of Rebellion
by Kristel Peters Footwear Designer
The original story of a rebel often finds its way in movies and books where he/she, always in the position of an underdog, is fighting authority. James Dean protests his parents’ established norms in the movie ‘Rebel without a cause’ (1955). Being a rebel involves not only holding and believing in unpopular views, it also involves establishing your identity and making others notice you.
every Friday, organised under the name Fridays for Future, demanding government effort to reduce our carbon footprint. Her catching persuasion turned Greta into e real role model for this generation, and her rebel story soon evolved into a real hero’s journey.
Present-day’s rebellion is much more than just standing out from the pack. Rebellions inspire and activate us by taking physical action because they think in movements and not just in attitudes.
Albert Camus, French writer, philosopher and absurdist who lived between 1913 and 1960, sees rebellion as a way to overcome the sort of solipsistic dread of life. The suggestion is that when you are not acting in a rebellion or creating your own reasons to live, you are not truly living or “existing”. The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. Meghan Von Hassel explains Camus’ Rebel as: “The rebel is a warrior and an artist. As a warrior, he struggles for the sake of man’s freedom in preserving the dignity of human life and the law of moderation within the limits of his capacity as a man. As an artist, his desire for unity and meaning seeks to bring the beauty of human dignity to life in creating a canvas of action that paints the reality of the rebel’s acceptance of and desire for his struggle.”
When Greta Thunberg started, on the 20th of August, to spend her school days outside the Swedish parliament instead of sitting on the school benches, she never thought she would be able to engage millions of people in her protest for urgent actions on global warming. That day, Greta was standing alone without support, holding a cardboard in her hands with the message “Skolstrejk för Klimatet“ (School strike for the climate). She decided then not to give up before something changed. Her rebellious attitude was noticed by her generation and soon they all followed in her action. Generation Z stood up and are now still protesting
I rebel, therefore I exist
nanna sandal karin kreek richard elversøe jessica turnbull christine dohm
“I want you to panic like your house is on fire” With the Ripples concept shoe collection we want to create a strong piece that matches ECCO’s design ethos. Designing for one of the most influential people on this amazing Planet, Greta Thunberg, we celebrate Greta’s individuality and encourage future statements from her. Greta is the catalyst for accelerating climate change action. She is a symbol of hope for our Planet and for young people. We want to honour her incredible progress and strong messages as the route of our design.
ripple
The shoe must stand out within a crowded “ Fridays are for Future� protest but it is important that it also works for everyday travelling and wear. The design needs to work for every season, every day, every climate and every event.
ripple
Feelings of anger and hopelessness over an issue too big for one girl to solve have fuelled our inspiration for how to visuallly represent panic. Humans show panic in their facial expressions, so we looked at face wrinkles, which inspired a fabric manipulation technique called smocking. We also translated the idea of facial expressions of panic onto the boot’s embossed upper.
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The leftovers from ECCO’s injection sole process were used as the base of our rebel design. The textures that naturally occur in the injection process gave form to the boot’s sculptural iceberg sole.
ripple
Having a shoe that works on every level stops the need for fast fashion consumerism, therefore reducing waste and the use of resources. We believe good design should leave no footprint, only a positive impact. The negative cuts from the sandal’s vegetable tan leather were used to create the details on the boot, allowing us to achieve our zero waste pattern cutting sustainable goal.
ripple
ripple
The design process made us consider new ways of creating textile sample compositions. During the sampling process we realised that digital knitting would be a professional way to create a ribbed sock using a palette of iceberg colours.
clara sika aaron conneely emilie palle holm lydia vermaat-wallin lloyd revald
common north
common north
This is a collection for the ordinary man. This man is not a remarkable man. He is this generation’s dad. He works a nine to five job and does it well – not remarkably well, but well enough for the law firm he works at to look past his kitschy taste, but then again only because he is placed down in accounting. He has been this version of himself for the last 25 something years and does a good job at that too. He has always been the stable one, unlike his younger brother who lived life to the fullest. The same little brother he just lost in a devastating parachuting incident, which makes him question if he is doing everything he could with everything he has.
This man is in his 50s. His name is Mark. He is older than he has ever been, but younger than he is ever going to be. He asks himself who he was to understand who he wants to become. He liked not knowing then, he enjoyed exploring, he preferred the unknown. He wants to get back to basics. He wants to be him. He wants to leave a mark. He is past the predetermined milestones in life and all of those have already defined him. He wants to change the course from the well-known humdrum routine to something more challenging and exhilarating.
common north
The question is: who are you when you have been defined by being someone’s dad for 20 years and then all of a sudden, you are not – at least they no longer need you like they used to. When the box of certainties might be a triangle, who will you be then?
The parameters of his base have now changed. His children have moved out, he has a new part to play in his relationship with his wife, he has more time, less responsibility, a new possibility to redefine his identity – and a very insistent urge to do so sooner rather than later.
common north
This is not a midlife crisis. This is a question of how you retrace the path you went on to rediscover the adventures of your past milestones. This is a transition. This is a wish and an intrinsically fueled motivation to become someone to yourself instead of something to your surroundings. This is the creation of dad-ism. This is a system, a philosophy, an ideology and a movement. This is a need for exploration and an insatiable curiosity to create new milestones by choosing a different path.
common north
common north
We have created a collection of containers that adapts to the stages of his transition – and his rebellion against the mundane. The concept of transition manifests in the collection as it gradually becomes more extreme, as he does, in his quest to rediscover his most authentic self. The collection is multi-functional, practical, pioneering and the physical manifestation of a psychological transition. The collection of versatile bags is a tool to enable rebellion and practice the laws of mark-ism.
maja ibsen brammer simone dormann pedersen maria berking karla werner zeuthen peder midttømme
ECCO’s angels
Now, at 63, she has recaptured this rebellious side by taking up grafitti in her spare time; an art form that was introduced to her by a group of former students after a class discussion on whether grafitti was an actual art form or merely vandalism.
Ingrid is 63 years old. She has a background in teaching and now works as an educational leader, forming the teachers of tomorrow. In her younger days, Ingrid was part of the punk movement but pursuing her dreams of a career, she somewhat abandoned her rebellious youth.
This is Ingrid Karlsson.
ECCO’s angels
ECCO’s angels Being a more mature, experienced woman has made Ingrid want to fulfil herself in new, profound ways. She does not care too much about the opinion of others and pursues her wants and dreams in a much more uninhibited, carefree manner. She has opinions and loves to share them. She likes feeling sexy; something she feels the most when posing for her artist husband’s paintings. She loves to feel free and break with the expectations there might be of her while graffitiing - a rebellious act that reminds her of her youth and lets her explore a more carefree, creative spirit that might have been rather suppressed in her adult life so far.
She feels like Mortensen understood this, expressing his connection to the religion through a vivid colour palette and a dynamic use of energetic movement and geometric forms.
Ingrid loves the surrealist work of Danish artist Richard Mortensen, and likes to explore his use of shape and color when graffitiing. She also finds inspiration in Mortensen’s way of viewing the world as a somewhat untraditional Zen-Buddhist. The religion and its use of meditation helps her to find peace in her hectic everyday life, but Ingrid does not identify with the common understanding of a Buddhist.
ECCO’s angels
ECCO’s angels
Ingrid is your aunt. She is your mother, boss, sister or maybe your former teacher. Either way, we all know an Ingrid. So we wanted to celebrate this colourful, bright, unapologetic woman and her unequivocal presence in this world. To do so, we designed a shoe collection that holds all of Ingrid. From the bright coloured contours and organic yet sharply contrasting shapes of Mortensen, to the rebellious, punk past of Ingrid as well as the dynamic, daring graffiti of her present.
All of this has formed a collection of comfortable, functional and rebellious shoes. A collection that is both bold, sexy and a little crazy. A collection that, much like Ingrid herself, without hesitation proclaims: “Here I am. Deal with it!�
ECCO’s angels
Rebellion and optimism
This year’s collaboration with Design School Kolding marks my 3rd experience with the programme. And, as they say; “three’s a charm.” This time around the student-teams were asked to rebel. Asking art students to rebel might seem like an exercise in irony. As a segment within young society, art students have enjoyed a reputation for rebellion for centuries. But this year the framers of Kolding’s unique project with ECCO proposed that rebellion is a force that can be both ignited and then subsequently harnessed and controlled. A risky assertion? Well. What’s the worst that could happen? Perhaps a rebellion might take hold that proves uncontrollable. Perhaps a rebellion might emerge that takes on a life of its own. Even that wouldn’t be so bad. After all, we’re only talking about shoes here. Like other footwear brands, at ECCO we hope to serve a wide range of consumers. With worldwide distribution, the range of consumer tastes and preferences is extremely varied. At ECCO, the unifying characteristic of the shoes we offer them is embedded in the feeling one has when one pulls a pair on. It’s our FluidformTM direct comfort technology combined with our unique leathers that produces this special ECCO wearingexperience. More than physically comfortable we hope, but emotionally comfortable as well. Maybe even spiritually comfortable. It’s this ECCO feeling our designers endeavour to
by Liam Maher VP Global Creative Director at ECCO
capture in each style in the range – from “Wild” to “Mild”. From styles that are more classic and restrained to those that are more progressive and expressive. Comfort is the unifying experience linking both less rebellious and more rebellious designs. When the student-teams addressed this challenge, I think our expectation was that they might indulge in a purely youthful interpretation of rebellion. Something maybe wanton, selfish and naïve. Something in the spirit of Picasso’s provocation that; “Every act of creation is first an act of destruction”. Something characterised by chaos. But they didn’t. As they presented their initial ideas during the programme’s earliest gate-check, it became clear that their collective urge was not toward chaos. They did not regard the invitation as an excuse to submit to the more cliché impulses of youthful rebellion; selfishness, impertinence or obstinance. In fact it seemed they preferred to move toward order, not chaos. And thank God for that. Those of us conceiving of the programme came-of-age during another era, and while we also grew up aware to some degree of social conflict, environmental threat and political uncertainty, these things were not being broadcast 24 hours a day nor were they being narrowcast relentlessly through smartphones in our back pockets.
The students are emerging in a new era. An era where it would be very easy to focus on the negative and to opt for pessimism. But for them an invitation to rebel seemed to trigger the opposite. Their rebellion seemed to aim directly at the challenges faced by their generation – from eroding digital privacy to global warming and from social disenfranchisement to personal loss – and offer solutions. They chose to rebel against these things. For me and the other participants from ECCO, the unifying characteristic of this year’s array of student projects was one of optimism. Intelligent, creative, empathetic, buoyant, unpredictable, unapologetic and resolute optimism. And for us this deeply human impulse toward optimism serves as a crucial reminder. At ECCO too, our daily creative work requires durable optimism. And when we listened to what these students had to say and we reflected on what they had to show us, we realized again that besides requiring optimism, creativity also produces optimism. This year the student reinvigorated our own sense of optimism and we owe them a debt of gratitude for that. I have said that ECCO seeks to deliver a feeling in our shoes. More than physical comfort. Maybe it’s this we’ve been busy with all this years – designing, engineering and delivering optimism in every step. If optimism is to be the core of an unharnessed and uncontrollable rebellion that threatens to take on a life of its own, then count us all in.
mathilde alexandra møller nicklas lohmann laura astrup larsen maibritt marjunadóttir
dolly In our modern-day society we tend to fetishize youth and we are constantly exposed to ways to stay young. As a result aging has become a thing to be avoided or hidden away. We want to challenge what it means to be “age appropriate”, how we are supposed to look and act when we reach a certain age, and essentially celebrate aging as a natural circumstance of life. We want to break the box and do it with a mix of the “old fashioned” way combined with a new twist.
Bent is a person who has fallen into the conformities of life. He is retired and has recently experienced the loss of his wife. As all of the things that remind him of his wife start to run out, like her homemade bread, her shampoo and the smell of her clothes, he is forced to revalidate his life and take decisions on his own.
The persona who inspired us in our concept development is 74-year-old Bent.
dolly
We portray this process using soft, organic shapes that are almost humanlike. The duality creates the basis for all of our shoes.
First, as these otherwise strict geometric shapes that break up and fall apart. Second, as a maturing process, where the shapes evolve and become evermore complex.
To portray our persona’s life, we play with the contrasts between degradation and blooming, in terms of both colours and materials. In relation to the form language, we work with two different ways of understanding aging:
dolly
dolly
dolly Instead of turning to the gray, Bent starts turning the lasts from his old life into firsts. He starts doing things he has been afraid of before, such as picking up art, and begins creating a new, fuller life for himself. He does not do this actively to rebel, but because it brings joy and meaning to his newfound way of life. He chooses to live and recognize that he is an individual and is worthy of being seen.
Our sustainable approach takes its starting point in old fashioned techniques combined with new technology. In our collection we worked with knitwear, bringing it from old traditions and into the digital age. Knitwear is a sustainable material because it leaves only a very small amount of waste compared to other ways of production. We also worked with fit and adaptability by emphasizing different kinds of use or different needs for the individual user, thus extending the shoe’s versatility. With our last shoe we aim for total zero waste with materials that are biodegradable.
dolly
ida fabricius hamberg tine frederiksen sofie terkelsen josephine lund ida thøgersen
sophus
The Dorit collection is a celebration of the quirky and the real. A celebration of a new version of perfect, different from what we normally see in the fashion industry. The collection focuses on the curves and shapes of the human body and celebrates its diversity. With exaggerated shapes the bags become part of the body. They direct attention to the body and makes it look even bigger.
sophus So, for you to understand the collection, you need to understand Dorit. The bags are designed to fit into the life of Dorit. This bubbly and outspoken woman who fills the room the second she enters it. She is a shopaholic with an expensive taste, which results in a really messy apartment and workstation. For her, bigger really is better. She knows what she wants, and the more the better. Dorit does not really care about what other people think of her. She wears, eats and does whatever she wants. She works as a hacker for the FBI; a job she got when they caught her hacking to cover her enormous amount of shopping.
We worked with the concept of the accidental rebel. In this collection the rebel stands out – but not on purpose. In fact, the rebel in our story does not even know that she is part of a rebellion.
sophus
sophus
What we want to achieve with this collection is to celebrate Dorit. We want to talk about the body and its curves. With the bags we are able to change the silhouette of the person who carries them, making the silhouette more beautiful, bigger and with even more curves. It is okay for it to be a little too much; Dorit likes it that way.Â
sophus
With humour and aesthetics we have worked with real bodies; with real silhouettes and real curves. We want to emphasize the importance of feeling good in your own body. Just as Dorit, we should all be able to wear whatever we want to. If it makes us feel good, it is good. No matter what others think. To underline the focus on the body and its shapes, we designed a piece that touches the body – we created a pattern that encloses the body and follows the curves.
The Dorit collection is a sculptural and humorous take on bags and how they relate to the body.
The sustainable approach of the collection is mainly the focus on technical durability. With no use of zippers and other hardware that can break and make the bag useless, the materials align in durability. The handles are made from recycled plastic. They are sewed on and can be replaced in case they break.
sophus
marianne elise momsen mia lehtonen madsen fĂŠlix gebleux nathalie hauser anne kathrine lund ejlertsen
fame Let’s talk about cultural appropriations. No, let’s talk about if we are in a valid position to even talk about it. No, let’s talk about whether we are allowed to talk. No, fuck that. Let’s eliminate cultural appropriation, not by talking, but by fucking doing! In our generation, you can easily and unintentionally offend someone. We are so concerned with being politically correct that it is actually impossible not to offend anyone. But we do not want to offend; we want to say “fuck” to being so careful. Let’s not be afraid; let’s open the discussion and explore.
fame
We are currently in Kenya, meeting the modern nomad Camden. Her work takes her around the globe. She studies people and their way of life. She has no preperception and prejudice. She embraces the culture she is emerged in, eating what the locals eat, sleeping where they are sleeping and wearing what they are wearing. “Inspiration is admiration and respect; it is acknowledging the beauty and potential in something else. It is credit to its origin.�
fame
fame Our concept draws on three countries chosen from our persona’s background: Scotland, Japan and Kenya. We have explored the traditional way of making shoes in these countries; their use of colour, material, and crafts. This have served as inspiration for our collection; a collection that plays with diversity and the meeting of cultures to create a shared heritage. We wanted to capture this cultural encounter and show how it can create something beautiful rather than offensive. By acknowledging the existence of cultural appropriation and yet choosing to work with it, we wanted to take the power away and eliminate the issue.
Camden admires craftsmanship and surrounds herself with artifacts from different cultures. She mixes these pieces of history in her appearance, not thinking twice about the clash of cultures, patterns and colours.  We give credit to the beauty in cultural heritages and embrace the meeting between them. Let’s own and share our heritage and create something beautiful.
fame
Camden is constantly on the move and leads the life of a modern nomad, so all of her belongings must fit in one bag. Therefore, we have created a sandal that refers to Japanese wrapping techniques and the construction of the ancient European moccasin that you can flatten to take up the least amount of space. The sandal has an attachable add-on leather sock for when she is traveling in colder climates. Because we want to keep the old crafts and handmade creations alive and visible, our collection is wrapped in handmade woven straps and laces.
fame
Moving from place to place you have to be prepared for any weather and any terrain. We have created a collection that can be modified depending on weather conditions and different environments. An outer sole can be added for hiking and outdoor activities in rougher terrain. It has an easy magnetic click-on feature for an intuitive assembly, while still using lace for you to trust the durability of the sole, which you attach manually.
fame
pernille grøhn julie maria pedersen henriette frøslev hjortshøj nicoline sandø anderson birk alexandersson
The year is 2040 and Kristopher Flint is moving silently through the streets of Tokyo. It is dark and he is on the way out of the underground. Here he has spread new information that he stole at work the day before. Flint works for a large data security company, which has been hired by the Japanese government to build and implement Social Credit System. 20 years ago China implemented the system and the world has not been the same since. Flint opposes the tracking, dictating and controlling by the government and he believes it violates our human rights. Progress is not always progress. He does everything he can in order to stop this damaging system. This collection is a tribute to those who oppose China’s Social Credit System. In 2020 the system will be enforced on all Chinese citizens.
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The rebel shoe lets Flint improve his ability to climb and cushions his jumps from heights. The shoe contains ink so he can leave a footprint and mark territory after his rebel activities of smashing and sabotaging equipment used for social control. He needs to remain anonymous but still shed light on his important work.
We have designed a collection consisting of four different shoes. The shoes have different functions for Flint, and he would wear them according to what activities he is doing.
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The second shoe is casual. This shoe Flint will wear to work and for daily activities. The shoe’s four-strap system ensures a comfortable tight fit while walking or running, but also a loose fit for when he will spend hours at his desk.Â
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oks The third shoe is a casual shoe for the really hot summer days. It is partly enclosed and partly open and can be compared to a sandal. But what is special about this shoe is that there is a cooling system embedded in the sole. Burning your foot on the inside of the shoe is only a problem of the future.
Discovering bag design
What is the bag concept of the future? How can we make new and innovative hardware? What does a rebel and non-rebel bag look like and who are they for? For the first time students from Design School Kolding had the opportunity to work on a bag collection as part of the annual collaboration project between ECCO and Design School Kolding and explore their own answers to these questions. I was fortunate enough to be part of this project, representing the Accessories Department at ECCO. Working in a commercial environment, it is extremely refreshing to go back to design school and see the creative freedom the students have. Sometimes, however, the students are not really aware of this, which is natural, as they cannot compare, yet, to the real work world. My aim in this project was to share my knowledge from the industry with the students and at the same time make the students aware of the creative opportunities and freedoms they have. A bag is not a shoe, but what makes them different? It was important for me to share the joy I have working with leather goods and creating bags, but also to pass on my love for
by Solveig Gubser Designer at ECCO Accessories
this craft. For me it is about the sculptural opportunities that lie in creating the shape of the bag, how the volume can be made and changed while wearing it, that it is an accessory and can almost function as a big jewellery piece, an object of desire. And that it is not only a fashion item created by fashion designers but also has components of the industrial design field, like the hardware pieces. I wanted to inspire the students to find new hardware solutions using unconventional materials and was delighted to see that all groups paid a lot of attention to those seemingly small details and came up with beautiful and new hardware elements.
this task, we both agreed, that it was also a good learning opportunity for us to become aware again how much these topics need to be considered.
To give the students a glimpse of reality, they were given the task of making the technical instructions and patterns for one of their designs. This was then sent to fashion designer and tailor Flavia Bon from Studio Bon, who stitched the bags according to the instructions given by the students. She also gave all of them feedback and advice on how to improve their instructions, which was very interesting for all of us. It always makes me aware how detailed a designer has to think and describe the product; how much work goes into it. Speaking to Flavia afterwards about
Being involved from the industry perspective in such a project also represents a great learning opportunity for me. It opens my world to creative experiments and explorations that I do not have time for during my daily work. It is about discovering the unusual and helping the students do the same. It is about crossing borders and opening up your mind. It is about the enrichment of our creative imagination, which will help both the students and also us to become better at what we do and what we aim for.
Creative projects are also always about discovering something more about yourself. What do you like to do, what is your strength, what are your weaknesses, how do you work in a team and what is it that you actually want to do? I wish that the students during this project could discover their strength, weaknesses and out of this also freedom in what they love and aim to do.
andrea albrecht mogensen anne florence merkle ludvig samsing wiese karen mehlsen amalie kallesøe bergholdt
calceus
Jakob Kaj is a modern Danish man in his early thirties. He used to work as a well-respected fashion photographer, but stopped once the bad side of the industry got to him. He moved out of his nice, big apartment in central Copenhagen and into a little cabin in the forest. Now he travels the world as a freelance photographer and takes pictures of the fashion industry’s dark side. To raise people’s awareness and hopefully to change the industry, he illegally climbs the buildings of big fashion corporations and hangs his pictures as large posters.
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In this exact moment Jakob Kaj is on a mission to hang one of his large, revealing posters from the building of a big fashion company. This is illegal, so he needs to blend in with the concrete he is leaning up against. His bags are designed to make him less noticeable, both in the city with our choice of colours and in nature with the organic form language. When he climbs, he needs something that does not restrain him from moving with ease. Therefore the collection is made to be close to the body and adapt to his movements.
calceus
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A keyword for our collection is modularity. Our bags are made in a way that allows you to tailor them for your own specific needs or look. You style your own bag. Another great keyword for our collection is ‘multi-functionality’. One example is our take on the Casper Backpack. The backpack can function either as a rucksack or as a simple shopping bag.
rikke de fønss thielke anders v. andersen ester famelgo fernandez majken feldkamp herold victor johan halgaard madsen
untitled Our collection ‘ABNORM’ is based on the 28-year-old scientist Norah - grandchild of Albert Einstein himself. Much like her great grandfather, she is playful, experimental with a mind that works in unusual and innovative ways. The four shoes of the collection tell the story of the unexpected explosion which mutated Norah’s foot.
untitled The story begins with the rebel shoe, where the mutagen is in full bloom, and slowly takes hold as the mutation stabilizes throughout the range of non-rebel models. The shoe is inspired by mutating cells which have been growing on the heel, from where they are reaching out, wrapping tendrils of connective tissue around the foot.
untitled It is a late evening in Amsterdam, and Norah the chemist is working hard in the lab, conducting the last stages of an experiment, which could lead to the discovery of a groundbreaking sustainable material. As Norah, with great care, pours the final reagents into a vial, something unexpected happens. A sudden, violent chemical reaction erupts from the vial and spatters across the room! The remnants of the wayward experiment overflow unto Norah’s foot and spark an immediate mutation. Norah’s unorthodox, playful and experimental approach to her scientific work has suddenly evolved into a situation of which she is no longer in control…
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The inspiration behind the designs is mutation. Our collection mutates in shape, colour, material and texture, through reactive materials, and captures the mesmerising world of mutation through dynamic shapes and design.
untitled The collection, true to Norah’s sensibilities, is comprised of sustainable materials. One such material is a liquid bio-plastic, with which we have conducted experiments in the lab, alongside ECCO’s responsively sourced leather.
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Let it happen
Imagine a deep, dark blue coloured drop of ink falling… it hits the water surface and instantly its shape shifts into smoke, like threads… then slowly, the threads begin to move, purely and elegantly, naturally yet mysteriously unfolding. Without interference this moving of the ink can take place for a while before, eventually, the threads come together on the bottom of the water. Yet one stir and the magic is gone. This phenomenon is powerful, but fragile. If we translate the elements – the ink, the water and even the glass which contains these – into elements for making a shoe (or a chair, a car or a painting), what would that mean for the design of a shoe? As a shoemaker and maker of prototypes for ECCO, I am very happy to have this skill of letting go; of permitting what wants to happen to happen and not trying to control prefixed ideas. By allowing myself to stay in the moment and only react to what the material is allowing me to do, I am able to trust in my skills, and, eventually, the shoe will take on its form. New ideas come to mind during this process. It is a self-flowering way of working. Yet, I am only human; I can still want something to happen or what I am making might need to fit a story. So I seek control by stirring up the process – again…
by Alexander Fielden Shoes and Leather Goods Designer
With prototyping it is all about letting it happen, being surprised by unexpected outcomes so new things can arise, new solutions can appear to yet unknown problems. The prototypes that I get to make never get to be produced; that is not their purpose. They are ideas and concepts for the ECCO design team to pick from and transform and mix into the overall collections. And here comes the ’letting go’ again, because this process is not about my design as a final outcome. It is about seeing and bringing about possibilities that are beneficiary to the whole system, in this case ECCO. That to me is truly gratifying. Actually ‘letting go’ is what all of the young designers represented in this book have done. They have created a mothership of possibilities around a theme, downsized it into more understandable shapes and materials and let go of their individual ideas for the benefit of the design team and the balancing of a great collection of shoes. Creativity is not waiting for an epiphany, a sudden revelation that comes from deep in your mind, as if the mind is some container of great ideas. No, the mind, I see, more as an antenna, as a receiver, and then creativity becomes the effort to keep an open mind so possibilities, that are everywhere and all the time, can be picked up and received at the right time and flow into your work. Like a drop of ink flowing in water…
josephine ilona stine ditlev carl sylvester berg madsen christine beate kjos-hanssen husøy rasmus rostrup
In collaboration with ECCO, we have created a collection that challenges the perception of their typical user. We have designed four shoes with the aim of making the users feel vigorous, empowered and effeminate. It is a collection designed to push ECCO’s traditional designs and appeal.
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Kathrine’s needs to express her liberal sexuality and political message is limited to her life on social media as @ Støvle_Kathrine. Here she displays the unabashed image of a modern woman with a growing social influence. Kathrine is a contemporary rebel – a suppressed feminist by day, and a progressive liberalist by night. A woman in need of an adaptable wardrobe.
The collection is tailored for our persona’s everyday life. Kathrine Jensen, 25, is an apostle of the fourth-wave feminism living a routine-based everyday life. For her day-job she works as a cashier in a Rema 1000 supermarket, and she lives in her childhood home.
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Two of our shoes are designed using modularity as a sustainable feature, so that each shoe has two levels of rebellion in them. The add-ons make the shoes more pompous, provocative and performative for extra unusual or extra conventional occasions. Designed modularity gives Kathrine the opportunity to adapt the shoe to her needs, avoiding to buy extra pairs. This reduces the impacts from production and contributes to the product’s longevity.
The collection is built around Kathrine’s stages of rebellion. The specific wearing moments play an essential part in the design and function of each shoe, determining the type, the material, the colours and the finishes used to communicate the given message Kathrine wants to send, going from full expression to full suppression.
For the collection, we have focused on implementing fish leather as the primary material. Fish skins are an unexplored, underestimated and unused source of quality leather. We have used wolfish leather from the Icelandic fishing industry, contributing to a circular value chain. The wolfish leather has a smooth surface with a unique and distinctive pattern, adding an extra detail of rawness and depth to the shoe.
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With this project, we would like to challenge ECCO with a provocative, sexy and pert expression, and our persona with quality, comfort and sustainability. Our collection aims to push ECCO’s design, inspiring them to explore new target groups and alternative materials, so that the real Kathrine Jensen can experience the value of good shoes.
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Lecturers Line Rebecca Rumhult is an experienced accessories and fashion designer and head of the shoe, leather and fur workshops at Design School Kolding. She is responsible for the development of the bag course and the overall organisation of the ECCO / Design School Kolding project. With her background as a skilled leather craftswoman and shoemaker she supports the students in both the design process and in the development of the finalized samples. Kristel Peters is a shoe designer with many years of experience from the luxury industry. Knowing the vast amount of shoes that end up in landfills every year, she wants to push the shoe industry in a more sustainable direction. Kristel ensures that the students are introduced to the process of developing sustainable concepts and sketching both 2D and 3D when developing a shoe collection from prototype to final product.
Liam Maher is the Global Creative Director for ECCO. He worked with the Kolding team to refine and structure this year’s assignment and assisted in gate-check reviews with the student teams. Liam Maher’s experience in creative leadership spans a range of footwear, apparel and lifestyle brands in both mainstream and premium niche segments including Timberland, Burton, Oilily, Visvim, Denham and Avec Ces Freres. He has also been active in non-commercial projects occupying the space between fashion and art. Ejnar Truelsen is a shoe designer and an honorary professor at Design School Kolding. He is the designer behind some of ECCO’s greatest commercial successes and a quintessential representative of the ECCO design culture. Ejnar supports the students in their ideation work and in bridging the gap between design school concept and commercial reality.
Anne Poesen is a shoe designer who is particular strong in the idea development and sketching process. She brings in competences in relation to international business understanding as well as collection and line building. Anne makes sure that the students are introduced to the complexity of shoe design, addressing ergonomic, functional and sustainability issues.
Trine Skjoldan Kallesøe is an expert technician and designer within the craft of footwear. She works as a consultant for several shoe brands, covering a wide variety of functional needs. Trine brings professional prototyping and production competences as well as knowledge used in the footwear business.
Michael Thomson supports teams, business and organisations around the world in evolving their visions and strategies for growth. He ensures that the individual students have the competences they need for contributing to the teamwork, enabling the team to create synergy and communicate the value of their ideas and visions in a business context.
Patrick Johansen brings knowledge from the field of industrial design and production, including ergonomics and 3D digital modelling techniques. Patrick ensures that the students get the necessary skills to design advanced 3D prototypes and communicate their concept and the products designed in a professional way.
Volker Koch is a Master Leather Craftsman with many years of experience in the luxury leather goods sector. He specialises in all stages of product development of bags and bespoke pieces, from sketch to the final product. In the ECCO bag project, Volker supported the students throughout the making process by proposing technically feasible solutions to each project’s individual challenges and by offering his hands-on expertise in the workshop. Scott Wilson’s experience in fashion jewellery and accessory design offers a unique perspective in design execution and brand development. With over two decades in the industry, both at the helm of his own brand and as a design consultant, Scott Wilson offers students an analysis of their design process and development, aimed at achieving resolved design outcomes and a real-life professional perspective. Solveig Gubser is a senior designer with the ECCO Accessories team. She supported the course with the accessories perspective to give the students the opportunity to explore the world of handbags. Solveig Gubser’s guest lectures provided the students with insights into the field of commercial bag making. She also supported the students with feedback during their creative journey.
rebels with a cause How can a shoe or a bag become an instrument of rebellion? How might we as designers express the need to rebel against the forces that threaten the peace, freedom and environmental stability of the world today? This book contains eleven collections of shoes and bags designed by cross-disciplinary groups of students from Design School Kolding’s departments of fashion, textile, accessory and industrial design, each collection suggesting a different way of being a contemporary rebel with a cause. The project is part of the long-standing strategic collaboration between Design School Kolding and ECCO.
