The Innovation Diaries

Forget Christian Louboutin, Dutch designer Marloes ten Bhomer makes sculptural shoes which challenge the very concept of footwear. She says of her stunning designs, “I never let functionality get in the way of exploration,” she says. “And the whole point of exploration is to discover shoes anew.”

Marloes trained at London’s Royal College of Art, from which she graduated in 2003 with an MA in Design Products. Computers and technology play a large role in her creative process, from the automated creation of molds to the actual cutting of shoe components from 3-D models. She also uses some highly unconventional materials—shoes have been crafted from industrial-strength carbon fibre and the designer has even invented a technique she calls “leather-mâché,  which involves laminating leather strips and molding them to the foot, removing the need for pattern development and allowing the outside of the shoe to take on its own free form.

Although her work has attracted the attention of designers such as Alexander McQueen and United Nude, she has yet to find a permanent commercial outlet for her work. However, thanks to a grant from NESTA, Marloes is adapting elements of her couture collection to create a technologically sound, wearable shoe that will be available to order via her new website.