By
For over a decade, footwear brand Vivobarefoot has been on a mission to rethink footwear design, bringing it closer to nature and our natural foot architecture. As the company says, “the human foot is a biomechanical masterpiece”, so why not embrace that in footwear design by creating shoes that are, as they say, “as close to barefoot as possible.” The company’s latest product, a customizable 3D printed barefoot sandal, is very much in line with this mission.
The 3D printed sandal, said to be the first of its kind, is called the VivoBiome Tabi Gen 01, and is being released in a very limited run of just 590 pairs. Vivobarefoot is really taking the customization to heart, not just allowing customers to choose their dimensions and color, but inviting customers to their in-store scanning stations to undergo a full foot 3D scan. At present, only a few Vivobarefoot shops are rolling the VivoBiome tailored offering out, specifically their locations in London and Bristol, UK.
The scan-to-print process (which uses SLS 3D printing) results in a pair of split-toe sandals that are built for the wearer and designed to support their natural gait and posture, providing better stability than off-the-shelf, mass-produced footwear. The 3D printed sandal also integrates an outsole structure engineered for traction on a variety of surfaces. The bespoke sandal is retailing for £140 and comes in four colorways: obsidian black, mineral grey, forest green and earth brown.
In addition to the customized fit of the sandal, Vivobarefoot is eager to roll-out a made-to-order approach, which will enable it to reduce inventory stock and improve its sustainability through on-demand and localized manufacturing. As Asher Clark, Vivobarefoot co-founder said: “We’ve taken one of the oldest tools of humanity and brought it into the future. Custom fit, better for your body, and better for the planet.”
The VivoBiome Tabi Gen 01 is the product of a ongoing exploration of additive manufacturing at Vivobarefoot. For some time now, the company has been investigating the use of 3D printing to establish more circularity in footwear production. In fact, we spoke to co-founder Asher Clark and VivoBiome computational design lead Pete Davis last year to learn about their goals and use of AM last year. At the time, the footwear brand had just formed a partnership with materials company Balena, which specializes in compostable biopolymer formulations. When we asked whether Vivobarefoot was thinking about exclusively using AM in its production, Clark said it was not a question of if, but when.
