Winner 2022 / Special Awards / ARTISTIC FOOTWEAR

Crust

 

 

• Company
  Misawa Shoe Design Inc.
• Lead Designer
  Noriyuki Misawa
• Prize
  Winner in ARTISTIC FOOTWEAR
• Expertise
  Brand

“Crust” is dedicated to Moerenuma Park, the culmination work of famed Isamu Noguchi. Inspired by his "sculptures of the earth" scattered around a former industrial waste disposal site, a child's lovely building blocks; but its inspiration came from a diagram of fault activity, familiar in Japan. An earthquake during the work’s creation inspired Misawa. The hand-crafted wooden model coated with leather expresses the displacement movement of Earth’s plates. The pleasing color came from the park’s playground; this piece blends in like a tempting new addition where you can put your feet up.

Bio
Misawa trained as a shoemaker in Tokyo and in Vienna, Austria, for 10 years. In Vienna, he spent his free time visiting artists’ ateliers and art museums, where he was absorbed by the creative artistry. This experience inspired his career as an artist. Returning to Japan, he continued to learn under some Japanese artists and craftsmen for 4 years to extend his range of expression. It has been 20 years since he has engaged in shoemaking. He will keep pursuing the new value of “shoe art.”

Other prizes
2010 Germany, International Efficiency Contest of Shoemakers "Gold medal" and "Honor prize" 2015 The 33rd Japan leather crafts exhibition "Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Award" 2021 GLOBAL FOOTWEAR AWARDS "BEST OVERALL WINNER" 2022 GLOBAL FOOTWEAR AWARDS "BEST OVERALL WINNER"

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