David Bryan

A Story of Heels

(or...Educate to Adapt and Embrace Hopeful Solutions through Sustainable Design.)

 

I never really thought much about shoes growing but I loved playing with legos. As a surfer I bought Vans as a kid because I liked to skate too. It wasn’t until I went to art school after dropping out of Engineering to run a snowboard shop that I realized… I had a real infatuation with shoes.

 

Though I studied communication design the massive fashion department at my art school had a major influence on me and my work. Early on I found the future of color and texture trends there in the pages of Harper’s. I began to see fashion as the new fine art and a real contributor to my visual dialog at which the foundation was the shoe. I began to develop the idea that footwear was the core of fashion as it could be argued as one of the most essential parts to any outfit. Additionally, one could tell so much about someone else by their shoes, ah the sociology of it all!

 

Before I even left school I was drawing up shoe lines for fun. Most often just using the designs in fine art pieces I was making on the side. Even as I moved into my professional career I always kept that dream of shoes in the back on my head. What if...

 

Then one day in Las Vegas a friend and I were walking around a high end mall and wondered by a window where I saw an amazing pair of spectator mary janes that made me stop. Ah struck, I pondered them and laughed as my friend suggested I buy them. “You spent twice that on a print and framing, seems like you like these better?!” I had no defense, I gave into my gut and bought them on the spot. Of course I don’t wear them, they are an object of fine art that I now display in my office. 

 

I have continued this tradition for the past decade, finding special shoes in special places and they have continued to inspire me. They have inspired me so far that I finally took a leap last year to try and produce my own line of womens high heels! Sp this last year from my Eco Preserve in Costa Rica I surfed a little less and drew a little more...

 

Along my journey of learning how to make my own footwear I’ve met shoe designers to assist with sampling as well as educators in tech that gave me the idea how to possibly improve the field. Set up an education system not only about shoe design but possibly, and more importantly, how to do it sustainably.

 

What - Education        How - Design        Why - Sustainability

Educate to Adapt and Embrace Hopeful Solutions through Sustainable Design.