Marla Marchant
Master’s Project Woven high heels a gaze at traditions to resignify the ritual and beauty of craftsmanship
MA Fashion Footwear London College of Fashion
Woven high heels A gaze at traditions to resignify the ritual and beauty of craftsmanship.
Craftsmanship embodies the hand and mind of the people who create it. It is a testimony to the beauty and inheritance of the traditions, being one of the duties that still remain with its distinguishing trait of being passed down through familial generations. Nowadays, the quality and details are rarely seen in traditional handcrafting Shoe making is an example of craftsmanship that has been rethought, creating a contemporary image. Unfortunately, within industrialization and mass production craftsmanship has been less and less appreciated, both economically and spiritually. The result is that the calibre of their quality has deteriorated, bearing no relation to the quality work their grandfathers or teachers used to produce, which required great attention, taking care with the smallest details, and giving all the time necessary to produce a superior product. Accordingly, weaving is the main theme of this collection, where craftsmanship has been rethought. Creating a contemporary image that invites us to visit the past in order to glimpse the future has been achieved by modernizing traditional techniques and accessing the latest technologies which use alternative materials. This happens through respecting its relationship with the past, while accepting new ways of working and making them their own.
Objectives The objective is to develop 8 experimental shoes which state a particular point of view and conception of craftsmanship and to introduce new elements and experimental techniques to the filed. The collection should show cohesiveness on its own, having a relationship and being conscious of the wearer’s body and how extreme high heels modify their silhouette. The aesthetic enhances the weightlessness of female body, creating the illusion of hanging from a net, tying the feet down and bearing the netting into a three dimensionality. It pursues long and thin shapes while the body’s expression plays to be restricted, appearing fragile and instable from a podium that empowers it.
MASTER FASHION FOOTWEAR’S PROJECT
The aim of incorporating handcrafted pieces and processes is not only because the concept originates from weaves and their relation with hand-making; it also enhances the idea of working with rustic materials and processes. This is a response against the fast fashion and overrated luxury which lead to impulsive consumption, disposable products, and brands as a signifier of status, rather than design and quality. This approach rejects the uniformity and repetitiveness of mass production, where the imperfection of the craft process is usually thought of as a failure.
FINAL COLLECTION LINE-UP
SPECIFICATION SHEET
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Style number
1
Date Last number Upper material Upper lining Sock lining Out sole
30 November 2012 SL22055 white sheepskin white pigskin white padded sheepskin natural vegetable tanned leather traditional cardbord insole and shank rapid prototyped titanium structureand white leather strips 6 inches
Insole Heel Heel height Platform height Top lift Logo
Notes The out sole is stitched to the upper, which is a sort of moccasin shoe (pattern number 2). The shoe is traditionally lasted. The sock lining is removed to weave the heel which is attached to the insole by hand stitches, rivets and washers.
thread
heel
natural vegetable tanned leather silver
sock lining rivet
Pattern Sock lining
Color palette
white
Top lift
Sole
SPECIFICATION SHEET
sock lining insole shank out sole
washer insole heel out sole
2
Date Last number Upper material Upper lining Sock lining Out sole
30 November 2012 SL22055 white sheepskin white pigskin white padded sheepskin natural vegetable tanned leather traditional cardbord insole and shank rapid prototyped titanium structureand white leather strips 6 inches
Insole Heel Heel height Platform height Top lift Logo
natural vegetable tanned leather silver
Notes The out sole is stitched to the upper, which is a sort of moccasin shoe (pattern number 2). The shoe is traditionally lasted. The sock lining is removed to weave the heel which is attached to the insole by rivets and washers. sock lining rivet
Style number
Color palette
Pattern Sock lining
white
Top lift
SPECIFICATION SHEET
Sole
washer insole heel out sole
3
Date Last number Upper material Upper lining Sock lining Out sole
30 November 2012 SL22055 white sheepskin white pigskin white padded sheepskin natural vegetable tanned leather traditional cardbord insole and shank rapid prototyped titanium structureand white leather strips 6 inches
Insole Heel Heel height Platform height Top lift Logo
natural vegetable tanned leather silver
Notes The out sole is stitched to the upper, which is a sort of moccasin shoe (pattern number 2). The shoe is traditionally lasted. The sock lining is removed to weave the heel which is attached to the insole by rivets and washers. sock lining rivet
Style number
Color palette
Pattern Sock lining
white
Top lift
SPECIFICATION SHEET
Sole
washer insole heel out sole
4
Date Last number Upper material Upper lining Sock lining Insole bending Out sole
30 November 2012 SL22055 white sheepskin white pigskin white padded sheepskin white sheepskin natural vegetable tanned leather traditional cardbord insole without shank rapid prototyped titanium structure and white leather strips 6 inches
Insole bending Heel Heel height Platform height Top lift Logo
natural vegetable tanned leather silver
Notes The upper, which is a sort of moccasin shoe (pattern number 2), is lasted and cut to fit the heel. Then, the outsole and sock lining is removed to stitch the out sole to the upper and the upper is hand stitched to the heel structure. The heel is attached to the sole by rivets and washers. sock lining rivet
Style number
Color palette
Pattern Sock lining
white
Top lift
SPECIFICATION SHEET
Sole
washer insole heel out sole
Style number
5
Date Last number Upper material Upper lining Sock lining Insole Out sole Heel
30 November 2012
Heel height Platform height Top lift Logo
SPECIFICATION SHEET
Pattern Sock lining
rapid prototyped titanium white padded sheepskin vegetable tanned leather white sheepskin rapid prototyped titanium structure 8 inches 2 inches natural vegetable tanned leather and white leather strips silver
Notes The sole is molded through a boiling process. The sock lining, insole and out sole are glued together and hand stitched to the heel structure.
Color palette
white
Top lift
Style number
6
Date Last number Upper material Upper lining Sock lining Insole bending Out sole Heel
30 November 2012 SL22055 white leather strips
Heel height Platform height Top lift
white leather strips rapid prototyped titanium structure 10 inches 4.5 inches natural vegetable tanned leather and white padded sheepskin
Pattern Sole
Color palette
white
Top lift
1
SPECIFICATION SHEET
Notes The top lift layers are glued together and hand stitched to the heel structure. The upper and sole are knotted around the titanium structure.
Style number
7
Date Last number Upper material Upper lining Sock lining Insole bending Out sole Heel
30 November 2012 SL22055 white leather strips
Heel height Platform height Top lift
SPECIFICATION SHEET
Pattern Sole
white leather strips rapid prototyped titanium structure 10 inches 4.5 inches natural vegetable tanned leather and white padded sheepskin
Notes The top lift layers are glued together and hand stitched to the heel structure. The upper and sole are knotted around the titanium structure. Color palette
white
Top lift
Style number
8
Date Last number Upper material Upper lining Sock lining Insole Out sole Heel
30 November 2012
Heel height Platform height Top lift Logo
SPECIFICATION SHEET
Pattern Sock lining
white leather strips red padded sheepskin vegetable tanned leather white sheepskin rapid prototyped titanium structure 10.6 inches 2 inches natural vegetable tanned leather white
Notes The sole is molded through a boiling process. The sock lining, insole and out sole are glued together and hand stitched to the heel structure.
Color palette
white
Top lift
red