The activity of repairing is a form of re-appropriating control on our material world, allowing us to understand how things function and acting as a key tool for the consumer to control his post-consumption goods (waste).
Shoes are one of those products that, with the rise of consumerism and mass production, evolved drastically from a completely repairable object; and the active social-economical structure that existed around shoe repair is slowly disappearing.
Shoes, both crafted and industrially manufactured, are almost always assembled through irreversible connections, stitching and/or gluing. This means that components such as the sole and the upper, although commonly made of two very different materials, are inseparable. Throughout use, shoes are worn and damaged both in the sole and in the upper.
These shoes are designed with a reversible connection between the sole and the upper, allowing the repair process to be more transparent in relation to the material the individual component is made of.
This project brings back in the hand of the consumers tools and knowledge for repairing. The shoes come with a repair kit specifically designed for them, but which can also be used to repair other goods in the house.
Photos and words: Courtesy of Eugenia Morpurgo
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