Earlier in the week I read an article from Bloomberg Businessweek title “Is Nike's Flyknit the Swoosh of the Future?,” and it focused on a new shoe Nike is producing that take less energy and time to make. The new shoe is made like a sock on one machine and only sews two pieces together. Then the top is connected to the bottom. This week I decided to focus on Technical Metabolism, and the design concept I am proposing is using knitted clothing, pants, shirts, socks, to be unwoven, bleached and re-dyed and processed again to be used for the Nike shoe.
Becky Early rom Textile Future makes an obvious point about the clothing we produce for season to season as trends are all too soon tossed aside. By sending knitted clothing that someone might consider waste to a factory where they would start the “backward cycle” if you will to take the yarn to its original state then redo the process to fit Nike’s liking for their new Flyknit shoes. As we all may know from tragic experience, knits are easy to unravel which makes them a prim candidate for this concept. In the Waste Equals Food paper it is clear that products must be designed to be taken apart easily with a life of durability for only a certain amount of time.
My idea was sparked when I read the C2CAD paper about dying knitwear. The article caught my attention when it talked about the tests being done on the color and knits. A running shoe that Nike is producing needs flexibility, strength, and colorfastness resistance; the shoe won’t necessarily be using these certain dyes but it is always an option which would make it both biological metabolism and technical metabolism. Here is an image of the new Nike Flyknit shoe:
Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog this week. This is a very interesting concept. I'm curious to know if the shoe would actually be durable enough since normally these shoes would be used for heavy duty activities like exercising, hiking, etc. I'm just afraid that the knit material would not hold up. However I do like that you thought about using the concept of "backward cycle" which I think more companies should take this method into consideration since for the most part most of the cloths that we get rid of are just out of style instead of completely unusable.
Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting concept and I think it's great that you added your own spin to a concept that is already in development. I think reusing knits is a great idea, but do you think that the reused material will affect how durable the shoes are?
Olivia and Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteNike has produced this shoe "aimed at the minimalist running movement, whose devotees advocate lightweight shoes to reduce injures." It is not a hiking shoe. The reason Nike has talked about this for so long is because runners were wanting something so lightweight it was like wearing a sock. Also Nike uses polyester which knits are made out of from time to time, and the weaving process includes synthetic cables to increase support.
I think your idea is very unique and I am excited for this new Nike shoe! I like how you added your own ideas towards one that already exists. How might your show be different and what characteristics, if any, would you change about Nikes new shoe?
ReplyDeleteLarissa,
ReplyDeleteThank you. I would also implement making the sole part out of old tires, and having a buy back product to eliminate waste with consumers that way nike can continue C2C.
Hi Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteIt's always interesting to see how retail brands or companies are changing their production methods as we continue to dive deeper into the issue of sustainability. It's awesome that your were able to look up a recent finding about knitted shoes. In your blog, you mentioned how Nike uses one piece for the bottom and top design. From another perspective, do you think this would hinder the 'upcycling' process of adding value in any way?