Timberland takes yellow boot festivities to Milan
As part of ongoing festivities to mark 50 years since the original Timberland yellow boot debuted in 1973, the VF-owned outdoor brand has taken its celebratory collaborative project, Future73, to Milan Design Week.
The initiative involves six creative “future makers”, from artists to stylists and beyond. Its latest activation sees the company pair up with Netherlands-based collaborator Suzanne Oude Hengel, a knit expert specialising in footwear, on an artificial intelligence (AI) installation inside Milanese cultural institution Triennale Milano, open to visitors until April 23. Istanbul-headquartered new media studio Ouchhh produced the “AI knit data paintings” on display.
Titled ‘Future73 Visions’, the exhibition aims to re-present AI in a way that reflects Ms Oude Hengel’s penchant “for pushing textile machinery to its limits to create seemingly impossible shoe designs”, its host venue said. The resultant “paintings” are inspired by the knit engineer and researcher’s own techniques and innovations.
Ms Oude Hengel has been working with the shoemaker since its experimental Construct:10061 footwear project began in 2018. While developing the Future73 Visions installation, she had the opportunity to work with Timberland's Shed footwear team, based in New Hampshire, to test her initial concepts.
Others signed up to the Future73 project include Humberto Leon, Nina Chanel Abney, Samuel Ross, Edison Chen and Timberland collaborator at large Christopher Raeburn, who notably launched a new Earthkeepers range alongside the brand earlier this month, featuring a Timberloop Utility Mid ergonomic boot model made in accordance with circular design principles.
Image by Gianluca Di Ioia. Courtesy of Timberland.
