deconstruction — KICKSINMYKITCHEN

I came in early on Day 2 because I wasn't very confident in the accuracy of my patterns. After removing loose threads and adhesive from the edges and being more deliberate, the re-cut patterns were ready to roll.

Normally, the left and right shoe are made with different patterns. For time and simplicity, we used one pattern to make the left and right shoe. We had to take extra effort to ensure that certain pieces were symmetrical.

Next was material selection. Ecco Leather had so many different colors and textures that it was tough to decide on the 2-3 to work with.

The pair I deconstructed had a white/red outsole, so I knew it was best for the swoosh to match the outsole. 1st color - Red. The design of the AJ 1 incorporates a straight lines throughout (see below), so I wanted to pick a textured natural pattern to offset those lines but also connect with the outsole. 2nd color - black and white textured natural pattern. I went with a natural white leather to balance the pattern. 3rd color - white leather.

Along with the base materials, I choose two accent pieces, a hexagonal stamp pressed leather, along with a swatch of my own deconstructed Airmax 2016 FlyKnit's. The hex and flyknit pieces are my way of infusing technology and personal inspiration into my design.

Here are the four materials I selected for my AJ 1 (brought to you by Ecco Leather.)

Next step was tracing the pattern onto the leather pieces and cutting the material.

The end result from day 2.

UP NEXT - DAY 3 - Skiving and Sewing

The Decon/Recon course started today in Downtown LA.

Prior to the start of class, we selected a base shoe for customization.

I chose to build my custom sneaker from the Air Jordan 1, designed by Peter Moore. Besides the color of the outsole, the base colorway of the shoe doesn't matter, we will be replacing all the upper materials with a selection of leathers from Ecco Leather.

The first step in the deconstruction is removing the stitching and the outsole from the upper.

The bone folder, one of the tools we received with the class, is vital for separating the leather from the outsole without damaging either surface.

After the outsole is removed, I deconstructed the upper starting with the swoosh.

A thread puller and exacto knife were used to remove each component with surgical precision.

There are over 1000 individual stitches in each shoe. During the deconstruction process, I could see deeper into the footwear manufacturing process. I started to understand how and why pieces are shaped in a certain way. Why double and triple stitches exist at critical points in the shoe. You can see the amount of labor that goes into making each pair of shoes.

The end result was 15 pieces needed for pattern tracing.

The final task for day 1 was pattern tracing.

Along with tracing the outside profile of each piece, we had to trace the stitch lines for all pieces that overlap other pieces.

UP NEXT - DAY 2 - material selection and pattern cutting

Sources

http://www.complex.com/sneakers/2015/05/why-the-chicago-jordan-1-matters