The high-top sits on a bold, sculptural EVA sole, with straps that wrap around the upper and cloth rope in place of laces. It pushes a sneaker toward experimental, almost futuristic form.
To ground those forms in Filipino identity, the straps are loom-woven textiles, hand-crafted by indigenous communities in Negros.
The sketch
The concept sketch set up the wrap: woven bands crossing the upper at angles, rope lacing that climbs the vamp and winds around the ankle, and a heavy, sculpted sole, drawn from the side, front and top.
A second, annotated sketch mapped each material onto the upper.
Made by hand
The prototype was built at the workshop. The neoprene sock upper was lasted first, and the sole was built up from layers of EVA and shaped by hand into the curved platform.
Up close
Around the woven cloth sit neoprene, donkey leather and diamond-textured cloth. The organic, tactile weave plays against smoother synthetic surfaces, so every panel brings a different texture, a rhythm that breaks from standard sneaker construction.
A thick white EVA platform, built up in layers and curved up at the heel, carries the whole silhouette.
Bands of Negros loom-woven cloth cross the upper at angles, over neoprene and a donkey leather toe cap.
Cream cloth rope crosses the vamp and winds around the ankle in place of standard laces.