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Saturday, June 6, 2009
Born in Duiven, the Netherlands, Marloes ten Bhömer studied product design at the Higher School of Arts Arnhem before receiving an MA in design at the Royal College of Art in London. Marloes currently focuses on innovating footwear. Her cutting edge, distinct shoe designs offer an alternative to existing design languages and typologies. They have a design language that is built on clean lines, materials, and construction techniques that are closer to design and architecture than women’s fashion. They allow women the incredibly rare chance of freedom from conventional style clichés and codes, because they do not conform to the existing codes.
Marloes ten Bhomer's experimentation with 'new shoe typologies' began when she was a child and slathered an old pair of her mother's shoes in papier-mache to exaggerate their shape. Twenty years later, when looking for a way to create a shoe of varying thickness, the 26-year-old Dutch designer remembered her mother's heels and began to experiment. The result was a shoe made from leather-mache, which was followed by forays into carbon fibre, untearable paper and shrink-wrapped leather, often producing shapes that better resemble architectural models than shoes.
Ten Bhomer's current line of footwear, which she established after working on a shoe engineering project for Alexander McQueen in 2002, is an inspiring example of how to turn fantastical shapes into technically sound products. "I'm interested in designing objects that ignore or challenge conventions in order to make the product-design world less generic," says the London-based designer. "l rethink what an object can look like or how it can function. There can be more to clothes." In her efforts to change an object whose form has shifted only slightly over centuries, and in her wide-ranging investigations into unconventional materials, shapes and construction methods, Marloes ten Bhomer is a Hussein Chalayan for the extremities.
“If the key commandment of glamorous, upscale shoe design for women is to amplify and exaggerate the curves of the human foot, ten Bhömer’s shoes are riotous and sensuous sinners” Shumon Basar, design and architecture critic.
Ten Bhomer's current line of footwear, which she established after working on a shoe engineering project for Alexander McQueen in 2002, is an inspiring example of how to turn fantastical shapes into technically sound products. "I'm interested in designing objects that ignore or challenge conventions in order to make the product-design world less generic," says the London-based designer. "l rethink what an object can look like or how it can function. There can be more to clothes." In her efforts to change an object whose form has shifted only slightly over centuries, and in her wide-ranging investigations into unconventional materials, shapes and construction methods, Marloes ten Bhomer is a Hussein Chalayan for the extremities.
“If the key commandment of glamorous, upscale shoe design for women is to amplify and exaggerate the curves of the human foot, ten Bhömer’s shoes are riotous and sensuous sinners” Shumon Basar, design and architecture critic.
