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

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.

"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.