Made out of crystal clear resin layered around a silicone mold of Simon Vermeulen’s demi-pointed foot, these two shoes are each separated in equal halves closing onto each other. They originated from the desire to portray the dark side and imprisonment of Cinderella’s magnificent glass slippers, 2013.

These Glass Shoes are featured in the major independent film ‘Der Untermensch’: Staged against minimalist backdrops and accompanied by a hypnotic original score, this highly cinematic contemporary dance film abstractly depicts the persecution of homosexuals at the hands of the Third Reich.

It was nominated for Best Canadian Short Film at Toronto International Film Festival’s 2013 edition and was screened in many festivals around the world, including Cannes.

The shoe is stitched together with multiple pieces of latex rubber cast out of molds made from my own skin. The shoe’s toe and heel raise and lower as it occasionally vibrates/pulsates, and twitches on the floor as if it were still alive. The movement is not constant, and usually causes people to jump back while they are in the middle of leaning in for a closer look.

In our modern world of fast and easy consumption, we rarely pay any thought to where products actually come from and how they were produced. Many times we assume mass produced items were simply built by a series of machines. Unfortunately the reality is that we usually exploit other humans to produce goods as cheaply as possible. We place our well-being over that of others, sometimes for trivial objects.

As this piece deals with issues of sweatshop labor and content ownership, each piece of “skin” (cast in latex from my own) is different in color, size, and texture. The Nike Logo is done in white and placed prominently on top. The shoe’s toe and heel raise and lower as it occasionally vibrates/pulsates, and twitches on the floor as if it were still alive.

While the shoe is disturbing, the reality behind the issue is even more so.  We live in a culture that is disconnected from what it is doing to itself and others. We choose to ignore it, rather than deal with the reality we have created for ourselves.

Organic performance of shoe art forms realized through multi-material 3D/4D (MMP) printing.

ALDO has gotten into the collaboratio game in a big way, working with New York-based Julian Louie to create a series of African-inspired lush wedges.

Daniel Charkow (Shoe Man Dan) is a young Canadian shoe designer and shoemaker. His appreciation for hand-tooling and sustainability are key features in his designs.  Inspired by Lady Gaga’s fierce fashion and bold choices, he created his first shoe at the age of twelve. Falling in love with the art, Daniel pursued shoemaking at the Art and Sole Academy in Toronto under the guidance of master instructor Jennifer Alison.

Charkow has interned with many brands including Steve Madden, Aldo, Ron White, John Fluevog and Mellow Walk. Each of these internships has helped Daniel learn the complexities of the shoe industry. Daniel is currently studying shoe design at the London College of Fashion.

Alchemy covers several philosophical traditions spanning some four millennia and several continents, and it can be summed up in this way... Alchemy is the philosophy and practice of liberating a physical substance from its "fixed" physical properties.

It was believed that without achieving a form of enlightenment or inner spiritual revelation, alchemy would not be possible to the practitioner. There would be no hope of you transcending the fixed properties of the physical dimension so as to transform something like ordinary metal into gold without gaining access to the higher truths of this universe through spiritual practice and mastery. And so alchemists of the past used scientific processes, in other words techniques that could be replicated in a lab together with hermetic principals and spirituality. Those principals and spiritual truths are the basis upon which alchemy stands.

Galaxy alpine boots with a signature hook-and-loop band for a perfect fit, fully waterproof, and rated for -30 °C