Press Release
Wacky Pack Interactive Footwear by Ye Shen Is Granted the Silver A' Design Award in Footwear, Shoes and Boots Design
Ye Shen honored for footwear, shoes and boots design by the international grand jury of the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 20, 2023 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Silver A' Design Award in the Footwear, Shoes and Boots Design category for Wacky Pack Interactive Footwear by Ye Shen. The award was conferred within the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Silver A' Design Award Means
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
Regarding Wacky Pack Interactive Footwear
Wacky Pack is a collection of shoes that explores new ways to close footwear. Each pair replaces traditional laces with an alternative fastening system, such as a shoe cover, metal snaps, or a full zipper. The closures change how each shoe is worn and allow several looks from a single pair. Veg-tanned leather in various thicknesses and custom metal hardware are used across the collection. Pattern pieces were hand cut, sewn and hand lasted. Extensive prototyping refined the proportion, the soling methods and the closure design.
About Ye Shen
With an Industrial Design education taught in a Bauhaus manner, Ye Shen appreciates the beauty in mass-production and the romance in consumer-centered designs. "There are already so many products existing in this world, why should someone make another one of them?" With thousands of designers creative new products and millions of which being made on a daily basis, Ye had struggled but eventually managed to find his purpose to create: to transcend his products with the infusion of his own functional and emotional perspective. Ye seeks to discover the hidden bond between users, products, and even himself.
Award Record
Ye Shen is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Footwear, Shoes and Boots Design Award
The A' Footwear Design Award is an international footwear design competition recognizing good footwears by leading footwear brands and designers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to footwear designers, shoe designers, boot designers and fashion designers from all countries. Entries typically include shoes, sneakers, sandals, boots, heels and loafers. Awarded footwear designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/footwear
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/150436
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/150436
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!150436
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/342292
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://jeffshen.net/wacky-pack
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Wacky Pack Interactive Footwear
- Function
- Interactive Footwear
- Category
- Footwear, Shoes and Boots Design
- Discipline
- Fashion Design
- Industry
- Fashion and Sports
- Colors
- Gainsboro, Rosy Brown, Silver, Light Gray and Gray
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Ye Shen
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2022 - 2023
- Design ID
- #150436
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Wacky Pack explores the concept and possibilities of footwear closure, or traditionally speaking, "how-to-tie-a-shoe". It explores unorthodox construction and fastening method, creating unique yet diverse interactions between the shoe and the user, providing a new level of improvisation and customization for your day-to-day look.
- Inspiration
- What does it mean to tie a shoe? Why does it need to be tied? If all a shoe need to do is to enclose your foot, how differently can a shoe perform this task? Can the mundane action of "shoe-tying" turns into something more meaningful or entertaining? Can the closure dictate how a shoe works, or become a shoe itself? Can it alter the user's experience and behavior?
- Research
- Gen-Z and Millennials will soon be (if not already) the core consumer of fashion and luxury. With low brand loyalty and contemporary view of value, all they are after is fresh concepts that grab their attentions, concepts that become the pieces and its value. Brands are all playing up to these desires. But with the Millennials’ quick shift of attention, very soon a pure concept won’t attract them anymore, and they would want something more, they would want to be a part of the concept.
- Realization and Technology
- Veg-tanned leather with various thickness and metal hardware were used across the pack. All non-leather soft materials were dyed to match the cream color. The hardware selection was custom-tailored to perform the unique closures. Each design was explored and validated through intensive prototyping to finalize the proportion, soling methods, and most importantly, closure system design. All pattern pieces were hand cut, cemented, sewn, then assembled with metal hardwares and hand lasted, finished with various soling techniques and materials, finally sanded and finished.
- Operation and Interaction
- Bao Bao: Shoe born inside a shoe cover. Wear it close, wear it open, wear it flipped. O Snap: Turn O-snap on, snap pieces to each other. Snap None or snap all; snap some or snap one, it's up to you. Sticky Fingers: Shoe zipped all the way around. Zip or unzip, front or back. Zip it close, hide inside; Zip it open, reveal yourself.
- Project Duration and Location
- This Project was created in a 4-month period in Fall 2018, within a shoe-making course taught by Anne Marika Chasse at Rhode Island School of Design.
- Keywords
- Interactive Footwear, Fashion Sneakers, Alternative Closure, Shoemaking, Leather Goods
