Shoeciety by Second Nature

Inspiration

Being based in South Africa that context rang true throughout our entire process. We looked to our fellow South Africans and were able to empathize deeply with people affected by our identified problem. This is personal. This is necessary. This is Shoeciety.

What it does

Shoeciety is a project which will allow African manufacturers to create adjustable, multifunctional, shoes in localized supply chains in an effort to make shoes available to low-income households with children.

How we built it

Through relationships between designers, material collectors, manufacturers, sellers - a micro-system in local low-income areas is established. The outcome in each community is dependent on the available materials, existing manufacturing techniques and supply chains to create individual shoes for said community.

Challenges we ran into

The ergonomics of a shoe are deeply complex. Added to the mix, materials which are low-cost, bio-degradable and comfortable were also some challenges.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We have managed to create a product and business model which we can confidently say reduces costs as much as possible. In turn, reducing price and seeing more children protected from the elements.

What we learned

Where you think you need to end up, probably won't be where you do. Early on we had an idea and were moving forward with it, but through the saving grace of an effective ideation process, we moved through many considerations, criticisms and iterations. We are now proud of what Shoeciety has become.

What's next for Shoeciety by Second Nature

Imagine a shoe that grows... well we've done that. But imagine a shoe that LITERALLY grows, a shoe that once it's run its course, you can plant in a garden and reap the rewards of giving back to the Earth.

Built With

• adobe
• adobe-illustrator
• behance
• coreldraw
• divinci-resolve
• google-docs
• miro
• slack
• zoom