Design Technology - Year 8 "Flying" Challenge

 Oscar in Year 8 visited the Design Museum earlier this month:  

Design Museum Experience…

(Some of the shoes I saw while at the design museum).  

During my time at the design museum, they had a special exhibit on trainer design. The exhibits showed how they were manufactured, what they were made of and how different companies advertised shoes to make them appealing to the customer.

As well as that, they had displays on some of the oldest branded shoes in the US.  Some of them were from big headline companies such as Nike, Adidas and more.  The exhibit also talked about how they managed to create a shoe completely made out of mushrooms and plants. They did it in the MIT design lab and Biorealise to create the first biologically made shoe.

During the exhibit, many famous faces showed up on screens to show that they supported that company’s ideas and wanted to support that specific brand. Also, shoe making robots were scattered across the place along with the famous faces, while making shoes in matters of minutes. The main focus of the whole exhibit was Air Jordan’s, Air Force 1s and how they have somehow become some of the most iconic shoes in footwear history.

The Museum also talked about the history of footwear, and how it has spanned throughout years and years. Also how trainers had been used for sportswear and long distance running, then how the shoes had become more appealing to skateboarders and eventually everyone.  They became a fashion trend, and still are, while each company improved on their last design with a new purpose.  This could be running, basketball, or casual wear.

Older shoes have become some sort of a collectors item, due to their collectability, and rarity. Discontinued shoes have been sold for much higher prices to devoted collectors. People may collect shoes due to nostalgia and the history of these tremendous trainers, or just like the appeal of different types of shoe.