Lookbook HW20.21

Traces

‘Traces’ are the clues we leave behind, allowingus to reveal evidence from the past to make sense of the future we are heading towards. Hence, this season we decided to unlock the theme ‘traces’,which meant reviewing the traces of our own steps from the design process to the entire sequence of production, sales, and customer habits.

Whilst the production of shoes still involves challenges such as the manufacturing process and the dependence on several industrially made materials, we will continue seeking new ways for optimisation.

For instance, research has indicated an average of 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic has been produced so far, of which only 9% has been recycled meanwhile 6.3 billion of this has become plastic waste occupying landfills threatening the future of our planet. This is just one example of how we can look at the traces of our human behaviour and begin devising solutions to reduce wastage in this case.

For the ‘Traces’ Collection, a new sole was designed made from a rubber consisting of up to 30% of recycled materials from production leftovers. At the moment more is not possible without reducing the quality of the rubber. The topic of ‘microplastic’was also taken care of by ensuring the abrasion of these soles is 34,53% biodegradable within 6 months according to UNI EN ISO 14855 in absence of phytotoxicity. Here, the theme of recycling had been visualized in the look of the profile, by using the structure of rubber granules.

Secondly, we asked each of our workers in the production site how they thought their work at Trippen influenced the environment. Followed by how it could be regulated either immediately or in the mid-term. For example, a discussion was raised on the dust emission from grinding the soles, which led to the development of our Zero-Collection made in “San Crispino” construction with a natural crepe sole made without grinding.