I recently did an interview with Clara Brito, one half of design duo Lines Lab for Dazed Digital, and I was very happy to hear that they would like to collaborate one day with United Nude. I'm totally mesmerised by this iconic brand, established a few years ago by Dutch architect Rem D. Koolhaas and designer and entrepreneur Galahad Clark.
The story behind the brand is rather romantic as it started with an architect unmotivated by modern and contemporary design and with a broken heart who wanted to create something innovative that also had a strong connection with the female universe. After meeting Clark, Koolhaas, the architect in question, launched a new shoe company, United Nude that produced shoes inspired by modern design concepts.
I have already explored the connection between architecture and shoes in a previous post, but United Nude deserves a post dedicated only to its designs as each single pair of shoes is a reinterpretation of an architectural object or represents an exploration of different materials and colours.
The first shoe created by United Nude was called "Möbius" and it was inspired by the Barcelona chair created by Bauhaus director Mies Van Der Rohe for the International Exposition in 1929. The uniqueness of this special sandal stood in the fact that it was characterised by a single strip that formed the sole, heel, foot-bed and upper of the shoe. The first "Möbius" shoe inspired different models such as an elegant leather boot with a single strip that forms a hollowed-out wedge.
An aluminium office chair by Ray and Charles Eames inspired instead the “Eamz” series, featuring pumps, lace ups, boots and Mary Janes integrating in their heels a detail of the chair foot, a feature that seems to suspend the shoe in mid-air, giving the surreal impression that the wearer is almost fluctuating in a zero gravity environment. The United Nude sites features brief but helpful animations that show how the various architectural and design features were incorporated in the shoes.
But the brand didn't stop only at architecture, exploring the possibilities behind movement, colours and materials: for the "Fold" boot the designers took a single strip and wrapped it up as if it were a scarf around the foot, creating a fluid movement, while the “Peel” explores the motion of one leather line that wraps around the foot becoming the heel, an idea from an original concept by Dutch product designer Waldo Reijnders.
For the "Elastic" court shoe United Nude focused on the use of vividly coloured elasticised materials with linear motifs that create a simple but striking pattern, while the leather and canvas "Cup Booty" features a moulded heel integrated in the upper and the “Stealth” is an elegant, dynamic and sexy platform shoe inspired by the straight lines and styling of the Stealth F117 fighter plane.
I do like every single model created by United Nude, but I find the “Mono Jane”, a classic Mary Jane wedge fully moulded in lightweight EVA with a leather strap available in almost all the colours of the rainbow (even in a sort of mimosa yellow, one of the shades of 2009) ideal for the Spring/Summer.
Throughout the years United Nude has become a sort of creative collective, gathering architects, fashion designers, magazine editors and photographers. Among United Nude’s next projects there are also pieces of furniture and clothing lines and I'm looking forward to seeing how the brand will incorporate its architectural signature designs in its new products.
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I think this is one of the best written articles or blog postings about the United Nude brand. Obviously you know what you are talking about.....
Posted by: Heather | January 15, 2009 at 07:39 AM