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Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks is a groundbreaking exhibition that celebrates a shared human history and culture through the beauty of footwear. Featuring nearly sixty shoe designs, the exhibition explores several historically important technological advances to illuminate how cutting-edge science and innovative design thinking are transforming shoe design today.
The exhibition is co-organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Bata Shoe Museum, and curated by Elizabeth Semmelhack, Director and Senior Curator of the Bata Shoe Museum. https://batashoemuseum.ca/future-now/
Below are several images of examples of the artwork that you will see in the exhibition. Please do not show these images to students prior to viewing the Work of Art in person. This is intended for planning purposes only.
This Work of Art will be a compilation of Fashion Art from several modern artists and is curated into four different categories, as listed below. Read on to find out a little more about these catagories.
“The future is always being shaped by the present. The exhibition includes many incredible and innovative new footwear designs that are promising to transform what we will wear tomorrow. From sneakers created to address issues related to sustainability and inclusion to shoes that blur the line between the real world and the metaverse, this exhibition explores how forward-looking creators are helping us step into the future.”
—Elizabeth Semmelhack, Director and Senior Curator, Bata Shoe Museum
Future Now Playlist
Future Now Playlist
This exhibition has its own Spotify playlist!
This playlist celebrates the deep and enduring connection between sneaker culture and music. Curated by three talented DJs from Indianapolis, the selected tracks embody the energy and creativity that define both scenes. Godzillest, Lady Locs, and Ferris Booler have expertly crafted a sonic journey that beautifully complements the exhibition.
Innovation
Innovation
Nike MAG is the first pair of self-tying shoes first conceived in the movie Back To the Future.
Today, cutting-edge technologies are be- ing used by future-thinking creators to push footwear forward in startling new ways, from responsive smart shoes to 3D printed heels. Designers are incorporat- ing technology that used to exist only in science fiction into everyday production.
The dream of footwear that automatically laces itself began in 1989 when Marty McFly, in the film Back to the Future II, wore a prop pair of Nike MAGs designed by Tinker Hatfield. On October 21, 2015, the day that the fictional Marty McFly arrived in the future, Nike finally made the shoes a reality and announced that it was releasing eighty-nine pairs of self-lacing MAGs.
Other innovations focus more on the production process itself. FCTRY LAb was started by renowned sneaker designer Omar Bailey, the former head of YEEZY Innovation Lab, and his partner Abhishek Som, as a Black- led venture to democratize sneaker production. FCTRY LAb seeks to em- power new and established designers by offering rapid prototyping in the United States. By removing offshore prototyping and production, FCTRY LAb reduces turn-around time (and the expenses associated with it) from 18 months to 3 months. The Knight RNR V1.0, a sleek futuristic mule, was the company’s first shoe.
Over twenty billion pairs of shoes are manufactured each year globally, and the majority are thrown away almost as quickly as they are made. The environmental impact of fast fashion has inspired many creators to develop more sustainable materials and produc- tion methods to push the footwear industry toward an increasingly circular economy that reduces waste and reuses materials.
To bring awareness to the problem of plastic pollution, the Alexander Taylor for adidas x Parley for the Oceans shoe was knit using thread created out of reclaimed gill nets, which have long been used for fishing and too often left discarded in the oceans. Designer Alexander Taylor worked with an international team to create the prototype sneaker in a mere six days so that it could be presented in 2015 at the United Nations, where adidas declared its commitment to removing virgin plastics from all production.
Helen Kirkum, one of the few women working in sneaker design today, is a pioneer in deconstruct- ing, reusing, and reconstructing sneakers with the goal of reducing waste. The handmade PALIMPSEST Sneaker 001 features parts from numerous brands reconfigured into a one-of-a-kind “recycled” shoe.
Sustainability
Sustainability
Digitally designed bimorphic boot, Nike Space Hippies are made primarily from recycled materials.
Transformation
Transformation
The Octopus Shoe, and the fingerprint Croc, Nike Go FlyEase (2021) is the first hands-free shoe designed with a hinged sole that snaps into place to help disabled people put them on.
Change is created by those willing to redefine the status quo. From striving to build a more inclusive future to pushing the boundaries of design, the most visionary creators in the footwear industry are working to reimagine what the future of footwear can be by breaking old molds and creating new possibilities.
Nike’s Go FlyEase was created for people with limited mobility. The hinged sole and tensioner band allow the wearer to put the footwear on hands free, sliding in the ball of the foot and then pressing down to lock the shoe into position. Removal was also designed with accessibility in mind: the back heel protrusion allows the shoe to be stabi- lized by one foot while the other is pulled out of the shoe.
D’Wayne Edwards is one of the most important visionaries working in foot- wear today. After years in the
sneaker industry, he founded PENSOLE Academy in 2010 to give marginalized design stu- dents the opportunity to prepare to work in the footwear industry. In 2023, Edwards established his ground-breaking factory The Jan Ernst Matzeliger STU/DEO (JEMS), the first black-owned athletic footwear factory in the United States. The name pays tribute to Jan Ernst Matzeliger, the Black inventor whose lasting machine increased footwear production from 50 to 700 pairs a day, transforming the industry. The factory’s inaugural sneaker features a portrait of Matzeliger on the sole.
Independent designer Daniel Bailey, aka Mr. Bailey, is responsible for some of the most avant-garde sneaker designs seen in recent years, blurring the boundaries between contemporary art and wearable design. His Octopus shoes, created for Takashi
The metaverse presents a compelling new space for creators, with many burgeoning opportunities to define the future of virtual footwear. From virtual try-ons to sneakers that are also non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the futurists working in the metaverse are developing footwear that blurs the lines between the real and virtual worlds.
The intertwining of gaming and sneakers began in earnest when PlayStation and Nike collaborated on the release of 150 Air Force 1s in 2006 to celebrate the launch of the new PlayStation 3. In 2009, Nike dropped an even smaller number of Air Force 1s to celebrate the tenth anniversary of PlayStation. Like the originals, they have black patent leather uppers that mirror the sleek all-black look of the PlayStation 3. The smooth, gradated leather quarters, embel- lished with the PlayStation logo, mimic the console’s start-up screen.
In 2018, EKTO VR founder Brad Factor set out to solve a problem: how to give people the ability to feel like they are walking naturally through virtual spaces and do it safely. Factor’s solution was to create footwear with motorized wheels and soles that can rotate to face the direction a wearer chooses to walk. The wheels are designed to match the wearer’s pace and give the sensation of firm footing, similar to walking on a treadmill . In 2020, the company rtfkt was established to produce NFTs, starting with sneakers.
Its first digital design, the Cybersneaker, sold for 30 ether, the cryptocurrency on the Ethereum network. At the time, this sum was equivalent to $90,000, the highest amount ever paid for an item of digital fashion. rtfkt’s collab with Jeff Staple is a reimagining of Staples’s 2005 Nike Dunk SB Low Staple NYC Pigeon, which caused the first-ever sneaker riot in New York because of its extremely limited availability. The Metapigeon was released in 2021 as both an NFT and physical sneakers.
As these cutting-edge innovations show, footwear and footwear production have long been at the vanguard. What we will wear in the future will continue to be shaped by those who can embrace novel methods and materials to achieve their vision and imagine new possibilities.
The Virtual World
The Virtual World
Lego Designed virtual sneakers and shoes designed for video gaming Virtual Reality.
SOURCE: Elizabeth Semmelhack, Director and Senior Curator Bata Shoe Museum
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