Polyurethane Innovation - Footwear Design Contest

XIII edition of the competition that calls for the creation of a woman sandal to be proposed on a sole developed especially for the project.

The assignment

A total of 53 students from the School of Footwear Design and Technology enthusiastically participated in the XIII edition of the competition that calls for the creation of a woman sandal to be proposed on a sole developed especially for the project and produced in collaboration with BASF Italia. The students, guided by design and modelling teachers, came up with their highly-creative interpretations for the sole project, designing and producing original and innovative women sandal models. A panel of professionals selected the three best footwear styles from a point of view of concept and design.

Roberto Guzzonato - The Designer

Roberto Guzzonato Snc is a design studio born in 1988 of the desire to project one’s career into the future to create innovative styles designed with attention paid to every detail. Guzzonato is well-known as a stylist in Europe, but most of all in Asia. His knack for renewal and originality have set him apart from others, which is why famous designers seek him out as a trendsetter who comes up with youthful and elegant styles.

Discover more about the creation of the sole for the contest in the video.

The winning sandals

Prize Winner - Raissa Sbroggiò

My name is Raissa Sbroggiò, I’m 33 years old and I live in Ferrara. I come from an artistic and technical background in the sector of Cultural Assets and I have been working in the shoe manufacturing sector for 6 years. I embarked on this course of study with commitment, passion, and diligence and have recently concluded it. Much to my satisfaction, I succeeded in attaining excellent results and developed an interest in shoe design and planning. I consider each pair of shoes a work of art, and I approach each project with attention, precision and care for details.

The source of inspiration for the design of my sandal was Cyberpunk publications, cinema, and video games. The Cyberpunk style deals with themes linked to the reality of post-industrial society (cybernetics, robotics, telematics, virtual reality, biotechnologies, etc.) elaborated fantastically to represent a protesting ideology and social criticism. Using the Cyberpunk scenario as a starting point and reconnecting myself to the fashion of dad sneakers, I came up with the prototype of a sandal with an outstanding silhouette, the aesthetics of which can shake up bystanders and stimulate discussion. Characterised by the association of traditional leathers and multicoloured technical materials, the 2077 sandal is anything but plain and in its volumes and lines of style it becomes more an emblem of sporty than of chic.

2nd Place - Alice Piovan

My name is Alice Piovan, I’m 20 years old and I live in the province of Padua. Fashion has always been a part of my studies from the very beginning. I undertook my academic career by studying the technical production of tailoring, then moving on to the Riviera del Brenta to increase my knowledge of the world of footwear. It as a path that led to my continued growth and increasingly fuelled my passion day by day.

SOLE OF COAL, a sandal for those who dare. Contrasting colours and shapes meet to create a unique and sophisticated style, the geometrically clean cuts of the heel create contrasts with the soft lines of the silver elastics and the rouge lining of the upper. A polyurethane sole with an aggressive design to be able to play and create new and surprising dynamics. The different materials combine to offset each other. “Sole of coal” is an important sole that recalls, with its coal colour, a natural element that blends with the more urban and modern geometries of the shoe. It combines styles and different colours that, when united create a mix between classic and sporty, squared and soft, for a woman eager to express every aspect of herself in a synergy of contrasts.

3rd Place - Alessandro Contin

My name is Alessandro Contin and I work in the shoe manufacturing sector. As the son of a shoe salesman and hemmer, I can safely declare that I have “shoes in my blood”. I began my career in the fashion sector, but for the past 9 years have been working in shoe manufacturing, initially as a salesman and now as a collection coordinator. Since I was a teenager I have always been fascinated by this world and am now honoured to be a part of it.

My project was inspired by one of my favourite films, “The Gladiator”. I especially like this cinematographic work because the Gladiators, in addition to being mercenary warriors seeking glory, were also people who fought for their own families, burdened by debt or sentenced to die, obliged to fight for their survival. The important volumes of the sole, in line with today’s trends, had a strong influence on the choice of materials, which had to be appealing and decisive. The choice of the colours for the upper, and consequently of the sole, were inspired instead by Mondrian, a Dutch artist known for his “non representative” paintings. The combination of perpendicular lines with primary colours (red, blue, yellow), and white and black are the result of a continuous search for balance and formal perfection that evolved stylistically during the course of his life.

3rd Place - Soares de Morais Robson

My name is Robson Morais and I come from Brazil. My academic career began in Brazil, where I finished high school and 3 years of studying law at university. When I realised that this was not the career that I wanted, in 2009 I moved to Italy, and to continue my studies I enrolled in the hotel management school in Jesolo, graduating as a chef’s assistant, following up with work in experience in the sector. As I didn’t feel that I had truly reached my career goals, I decided to follow my desire to attend the footwear designer/technician course.

When the school informed me about the BASF project, I wanted to create a shoe that would recall the Middle Ages. I saw that the sole was beautiful, impressive, and had a strong character, so it fit my idea perfectly. One evening on television I saw the story of a woman warrior, Joan of Arc, during the Middle Ages. From that moment on, a new world opened up to me, full of ideas to be explored. I wanted to demonstrate that there are many roads, stories, ideas, concepts, to explore and create, any context we live in can be interpreted in thousands of different ways. All it takes is to stimulate the creativity that each of us has inside, ready to be transformed into something material.

Downloads

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