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Zaha Hadid to Release Second Shoe Design

A limited launch of 1,000 pairs is slated for March 2009, while 10,000 pairs will be released in May.

Laurel Petriello -- Interior Design, 1/13/2009 12:27:00 PM

Zaha Hadid Lacoste shoes
Low hybrid landscapes.

Move over Melissa, Zaha Hadid has her cordwainer's hat on again. This time the architect's teaming up with French-based fashion label Lacoste to create a footwear collection that's slated for release in spring/summer 2009.

Hadid's inspiration for the shoe design came from the company's iconic branding: the crocodile logo. Using a digitized version of it, the architect and her team researched a series of materials and surfaces in conjunction with ergonomic qualities catering to the contour of the foot. The shoe, which features a leather upper, is treated and stretched over direct metal laser sintered, stainless steel plates to replicate the digitized logo patterns, mimicking the natural patterns in a crocodile's skin.

Zaha Hadid Lacoste shoes
High hybrid landscapes.

"The design expression behind the collaboration with Lacoste footwear allows the evolution of dynamic fluid grids," explains Hadid. "When wrapped around the shape of a foot, these expand and contract to negotiate and adapt to the body ergonomically. In doing so a landscape emerges, undulating and radiating as it merges seamlessly with the body."

A limited release of 1,000 pairs—for both men and women—will be featured at select shops and boutiques across the globe in March 2009. A larger release, estimated at 10,000 pairs, will hit stores worldwide in May 2009.

Renderings courtesy of Lacoste.