Plastic Shoes

As a young fashion designer living in the twenty-first century, I have had to think about the impact my designs have on the environment. With sustainability in mind, and drawing inspiration from my life as a pedestrian in New York, my goal became to make a sturdy pair of shoes. After seeing that sneakers are commonly made out of plastic and other non-biodegradable materials that negatively impact the environment, I have chosen to closely relate my design, but in the form of a sandal. Still in the planning stages, I quickly have realized that designing a shoe will be a challenge, especially a sandal that can sustain the impact of my intense New York lifestyle. Not only do I want my pair of shoes be made of recycled materials, but also be fashionable and comfortable.

While considering sustainability, I feel it is important to recognize the large amount of trash that exists in New York. Landfills are growing at a concerning pace and plastic is one of the materials that people use once and then throw it away. It feels only right that the shoes will be made of plastic bags culled from the streets of New York itself in order to accurately suggest the environmental struggle that exists all around us. Once cut into pieces and fused together, the bags are to be knitted together to construct the upper half of the shoes; replicating a sort of woven mesh. By using plastic bags and the knitting technique, not only will the sandal gain shape and structure, but have a similar appearance to normal shoes. In order to provide a sufficient sole for the shoe, I propose the use of styrofoam, another non-biodegradable material, in addition to plastic. The styrofoam would create the platform and by enforcing it with other hard plastics the sole is able truly sustain my New York lifestyle.

Once the shoes are finished, they will be presented in the form of a shoe advertisement, which would touch on the both the sustainability of the product, as well as the fashionable nature of them. The advertisements would feature the shoes next to a bunch of trash in order to convey the idea that trash can be turned into something else rather than going into the landfills and piling up. As a community, we can reuse the materials that we have around to better our everyday lives.  That is why when choosing to make a pair of sandals, I choose to focus on sustainability and using materials around me to make something new and impactful. The big idea is trying to reduce the use of plastic and reuse what we have of it in order to be resourceful and smart designers.