STITCH 
SUSTAINABLE FOOTWEAR


PROBLEM

Around 23 billion pairs of shoes end up in landfill every single year, many of which are under 12 months old. Ever changing trends and consumer habits mean that people are buying more and disposing of them sooner. Research highlighted how the main driver for new purchases was simply the desire for something new as opposed to actual wear and tear.

SOLUTION
Stitch is a modular system that is designed to change and meet consumer demand for the feeling of something new. Made of six consolidated components, the system is able to be assembled and disassembled entirely by hand. This allows for repair, diverse customisation and disassembly at end of life.

This creates pathways for reduced waste and allows for more responsible disposal, while also aiming to incentivise consumers to do the right thing.

Shortlisted for the 2025

RESEARCH PHASE
Conversations with consumers on the street highlighted that the main reason people buy so many pairs of shoes is simply because they want something new. Teardowns and input from industry experts also highlighted component complexity as a major problem for disposal, with modern shoes being made up of as many as 40 different components made of a wide range of synthetic materials.

By 2028, sustainable footwear is estimated to generate $12b in revenue with a range of brands and market leaders shifting towards a more sustainable model. Brands such as Veja, AllBirds and Cariuma create more responsibly produced footwear in a range of familiar styles. Consumer feedback on these products was that they were more expensive with no real incentive to pay extra. Market leaders such as Nike and Camper have also designed shoes that are designed for disassembly. However, most consumers felt that the bold designs were offputting as it wouldn’t suit their style.



A gap in the market was identified for familiar lifestyle shoes that could incentivise sustainability through enhanced customisation while also creating more pathways for responsible production and disposal. The aim for the project was to give consumers this feeling of something new, while reducing the impact this would have on the environment.

IDEATION
Concepts explored a wide range of ways to give consumers the feeling of something new. They aimed to be discrete and visually familiar to consumers as this was highlighted as a key consideration in new purchases. At the same time concepts were generated to help reduce component complexity of the internals.




These were narrowed down to concepts that allowed the user to easily customise their footwear at home. Ease of use and convenience were highlighted as a key focus for consumers during the initial research phase.

RAPID PROTOTYPING
Rough prototypes were made of the most promising concepts, using a range of salvaged shoe parts, 3D prints and tape, to quickly give an idea of how effectively they could work. These were compared to select the proposed concept based on ease of use, versatility, discreteness and time taken. 





CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
Studying shoe constructions and sewing methods allowed for the creation of higher fidelity prototype uppers. Bespoke outsoles were modelled with CAD and 3D printed. This highlighted the stitched seam as the most effective final direction as a strong and discrete attachment method. 




USER TRIALS
Areas of frustration were identified by getting the product in peoples hands, highlighting ways to streamline the process. Users were often frustrated with the complicated backstitch pattern required to assemble the prototypes, leading to shoes with the stitches in incorrect places and lengthy construction times.



REFINEMENT
Through repeated redesigns and user tests, the assembly method was refined until it was simple to assemble and disassemble by hand. The outsole was reinforced with an inner layer to help users slot in the upper and keep it in place while building. This reinforcement also allowed for a tighter fit which created a seamless connection between the upper and outsole. 
The arrangement of the holes was then finetuned to find the optimal aesthetic properties that could also assembeld quickly by users. A simplified stitching method also removed the chance of error during construction, by making the process more intuitive. Markings were also added to the upper and outsole to clearly indicate where to begin and end the stitching process.

A partial lining was also added to the upper, allowing the internal structure to be completely hidden when assembled. These developments allowed the shoe to be discrete and versatile, by blending the construction method into typical design features that are common across conventional footwear.




TESTING
Endurance tests were carried out as a proof of concept to ensure the shoe and attachment method were strong enough to hold together during use. This consisted of taking prototypes on long distance runs as a more extreme use case scenario, proving that this had no effect on the holes on the upper or outsole. Laces were also ran through prototypes until failure, proving that it would take around 300 cycles of assembling and disassembling the shoe before the rubber outsole would be weakened by the repeated effects of friction.



FINAL CONCEPT
The final concept features an outsole that is designed to be made from biopolymers such as Balena BioCirFlex, an industrially compostable and flexible polymer.  This material is designed to be used with conventional shoe manufacturing processes such as injection moulding. 3D knitting technology aims to reduce component complexity of the inner structure, allowing this to be made of one material in one single component. The cosmetic layer is then able to be made from any combination of leather, cotton or hemp and can be stitched into a wide variety of styles to suit the wide range of footwear on the market.

Manufacturing drawings were created with dimensions for the outsole holes as well as dimensions for custom lasts. This is intended to allow for brands, manufacturers or individuals to design their own outsole shapes and upper patterns that can fit around the system, giving more choice to consumers. Life cycle analysis methods estimated that this system could reduce emissions by as much as 75%, compared with buying a conventional shoe.

For the full design process, feel free to check out my degree show presentation: