“HEAVY METAL” SHOES | Bryan Oknyansky

Heavy Metal Series was born from a collaboration initiated by berlin-based Haute Couture label Kimberit. The brief both poetically imagined and materially defined an exploration of how twilight flattens our perception of 3D space into 2.5D space. From this concept, Bryan designed the first two of six designs, Caged Heels and Spider Heels, which dramatically re-define the silhouette and re-engineer the structure of high-heels.

Courtesy of Bryan Oknyansky

Following the first two designs and nearing closer to an important showing at Paris Fashion Week, the remaining two designs, Spinneret Heels and Canti Heels, were sampled using both the SLS process and 5-Axis CNC Milling, a subtractive, sculptural machine process. Spinneret Heels can be considered an offshoot from the Spider Heels and were prototyped from a solid cube of automotive-grade aluminium by a UK-based luxury concept automobile manufacturer. The digitally designed shoes were translated into instructions for a robotic drill bit to sculpt the shoes into the sensuously curvy final form. Canti Heels were designed for the SLS process and are inspired by the cantilevered heel seen in Caged Heels.

Courtesy of Bryan Oknyansky

Each design was generated using computer-modelling software in a process that resembles the construction of buildings, boats, and airplanes. Inspired by nature and popular form-finding exercises by designers and scientists during the early-mid-twentieth century, Bryan’s creative process included the design of virtual scaffolding and construction aids, which served to rationalize free-form double-curved surfaces. As the ultimate goal was to create a physical creation of the digitally designed shoes, Bryan adapted the complex forms rationalized in the computer to actual measurements of a human foot that were plugged in as guidelines in the design software.