pictured above: a heel molding machine/ back part molding machine. Take your proto / unlasted upper, heat up the heel area and place it on the molds. The molds push up into the clamps above and rapidly cool thereby setting the heel pocket of your shoe into your desired shape.
As Creative Director of an Innovation department of a great heritage brand like Converse, one can imagine there being an obstacle or two to doing my job. One of the biggest: no one wanted to make innovation product.
So my team and I started our own rapid prototyping facility in Charlestown MA, separate from Converse HQ in Boston's North End.
pictured above: this is only 1/3 of the C4, not pictured are the 3D printers, the grinding room, the laser room, the wet room and the materials section. Working here was like working in a candy factory. Oh yeah- the building used to be an actual candy factory, really...
With the support of Nike NXT and their Concept Creation department we were able to put together the equipment, the people, and the processes to assemble what is called the C4 or the Converse Concept Creation Center.
Boston is a hub for true innovation because of all the incredible universities and colleges around. New England also has an amazing maker and craft culture that goes all the way back to its colonial roots. In footwear specifically, New England is the birthplace of many brands, not just Converse.
The C4 fused the old with the new- beside the 3D printers sat a wooden loom and laser cutters sat beside rows of hand tools. Our staff was an amalgam of tradespeople with decades of experience and industrial designers with unfettered vision and energy.
The centerpiece of the facility is a black research-grade autoclave manufactured by ASC. Autoclave and vulcanization are at the heart of traditional Converse product. Innovation in cotton, rubber and their combination extrapolates on the brand's heritage.
pictured above: we did all sorts of cushioning testing using different materials and materials sandwiches. Doing this kind of testing has been done before but no research existed on materials and material sandwiches that could withstand the autoclave/ vulcanization process. We came up with some really cool solutions but I'll keep those to myself. From right to left- zoom air bag, crystal outsole with molded cutout for airbag, closed cell blown rubber outsole.
Converse isn't just about the Chuck Taylor. The Converse Weapon is THE iconic basketball shoe from the brand's past. We were able to iterate on the classic. Above is a design that fuses some of the lateral graphics with a minimal vamp.
Above is a style that is the embodiment of our composite material framework - it is a stretch waterproof-breathable bootie in a fused plastic cage. The structure of the cage is procedurally generated to manipulate for flex and fit.
One of our cushion exploration tracks included 'Visible Zoom'. The above rendering shows what that could look like: a very thin window with a colored material inside to give it depth. All our drawings had those little windows for a couple of months!
Your eyes aren't deceiving you- the topline of that cupsole slopes from front to back! Inspired by the expressive footwear of the mid-90's and early 2000's: brands like Northwave, Alife, and yes, Royal Elastics. This style is a streetwear version of the Converse Weapon. Unfortunately, this never made it past the sketching phase- what you see here is a AI -augmented drawing.
pictured above: these are adhesive tapes activated by heat press. The shoe is a Chuck Taylor made using mostly heat press activated adhesives and laser cut components. The result was a super light and near stitch-less construction.
pictured above: this was a fun project- Converse is a cotton and rubber company. When apparel makes rain jackets they try to implement rubber where they can. Rubber is waterproof but also non-breathable, so the innovation team started looking into perforations. We were inspired by the trailing edges of cars and planes, the pointed edges focuses air to a point so it releases from the surfaces more efficiently. We created perf shapes that did the same thing, allowing flowing water to 'jump' over the gaps in the perf. Yes, it works.
This is an image of a rain boot design and an example of a perforated rubber rain jacket. We actually built both! Above is an AI render but protos of these styles were actually built by our team.
Innovation apparel was built in sample rooms in Portland (thank you Nike), Downtown Los Angeles, and in Tokyo. The team engaged in user-studies, and built pieces for climate control and freedom of movement. Above and below: zip out perforated vest- and laser etched venting.
pictured above: this a testing protocol and framework for designing footwear around comfort. I had to keep a few things to myself but I hope you can see how valuable something like this could be.
pictured above: a pullover my friend and teammate Caesy put together to explore what we were calling 'comfort wire'. It's like Nike flywire but explored elastic fit rather than positive lock. The cables ran through tunnels in the stroble, and the stroble wasn't cemented under the arch.
pictured above: three weeks after the lab opened we entertained some guests who were interested in seeing what my team and the lab could do. Super proud of the work the team did in such a short time. At the time this was shot, we were working on three patents for our mother company based on these projects.
