In order to combat the trend of ‘fast fashion’, designer Lucille Nguyen came up with a solution: a modular and customisable shoe.

Annually, over 300 million pairs of shoes are estimated to be sent to the landfill. Recycling shoes is often difficult, because it is made of various materials that are glued together. Additionally, cheap sneakers are often made of low quality materials, and are usually worn out after less than a year.

Designed for her graduation project at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands, Nguyen’s sneaker design Up-part aims to counter this trend. Rather than a finished product, the shoes are sold in separate kits of sole and upper. Either can be replaced when damaged, limiting waste.

Using a grid and clip system with either straps or laces, the shoes can easily be assembled and disassembled by the wearers. The sole, upper, tongue, heel straps and laces are all clipable. The user has therefore endless possibilities to restyle and customise the shoes using a variety of colours and textures. This way, the shoe can be adapted to any mood, season and style, to make an everlasting sneaker.

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Photos: Lucille Nguyen / Iris Rijskamp