15
Steps Through Time
Discovering my passion motivated me to keep improving myself. Even under pressure, I stayed driven to deliver my best work.
Capstone Project. The opportunity to create my own prompt for my final project before graduation based on my interests: Design a shoe collection that tells a personal story, using your own experiences and perspective to reinterpret the original essence of sneakers in a more intimate and meaningful way. Focus on capturing authenticity, emotion, and narrative through form, material, and design details.
A shoe inspired by my roots in Venezuela and my family. It’s a physical, wearable collage of memories that honors my grandpa, with whom I share some of my fondest childhood moments. A nostalgic tribute turned into an emotional, personal story you can wear.
A shoe inspired by the escape I find in the energy of the city and all its distractions. New York is a sea of inspiration: from the gritty, fast-paced environment, to the hectic, yet fun nightlife, to the street culture in the form of art and fashion.
A shoe inspired by what I imagine when I dream of the future. In a more emotional and reflective take, I drew inspiration from a version of myself shaped by clarity and growth. When faced with the uncertaintities of today, the future becomes my escape.
Process
My Story
I was born in Venezuela, lived there for my early childhood, and moved to Miami when I was 9. Moving was really tough for me as it meant leaving family, friends, and memories behind. With the current situation back in Venezuela and the uncertainties of what will happen in the future, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go back. For this reason, especially as I grew older, memories, representation, and expression are values that I hold dearly. Manifesting these feelings through a product, especially worn products that can be a part of my self-expression, are things that I instantly gravitate towards.
For this project, I was heavily inspired by music, especially how artists tell stories through their songs. However, instead of music, I’m using shoes as my medium.
This Project
In today’s oversaturated sneaker market—where many brands release designs without much meaning—I saw an opportunity: to create shoes with depth, intention, and narrative.
I feel very passionate about this since one of the reasons I even got into design was because of shoes. I fell in love with sneakers and how an object could create such a passionate community. I was also infatuated by how the most sought-after sneakers were the ones that had a specific story tied to them, and how each design decision was a reference to the story.
However, as I grew older, that storytelling and intention faded away, and sneakers became more and more of a cash grab—the most sought-after ones mainly driven by hype and profitability.
So I’m looking to bring back the original essence of sneakers, giving it my own, more intimate take. I built my collection around the idea of stepping through time—transporting myself to the past, present, and future and drawing inspiration from each. Each shoe represents a chapter in my journey—where I’ve been, where I am, and where I’m going.
For the past, I mainly looked at images of my family as inspiration. A big part of my past involved my family, specifically back in Venezuela, which is why I picked out certain images with my family. I also wanted to capture the essence of Venezuela in my shoes, as that’s where I was born and had my earliest childhood memories, so for that I looked at things that can have a direct connection with Venezuela. This shoe plays a lot with personal nostalgia and how to create a wearable “memoir”.
For the present, I looked at the city as inspiration. Moving to New York has been one of the best things that have happened to me, which is why I wanted to reference the city in my present shoes. There are many aspects of the city that I draw inspiration from: the grimey, fast paced environment, the hectic, yet fun nightlife, and the street culture you see everyday in the form of art and fashion.
For the future, I got my inspiration from what I think about when I daydream about the future. When I daydream about the future there’s a mix of things I envision in my head. On one hand, daydreaming means I get to create any sort of scenario in my head, meaning I can escape from my reality. I can sort of create these surrealist scenarios which I find exciting. The future is also a place where I feel I’ll find answers. Living in the present means always having uncertainties, so in the future I find myself being someone who’s grown and found clarity from the questions I have today. And lastly, I find hope in the future. Sometimes when things go wrong in the present, I find myself thinking ahead, which helps me push through my struggles since I always have the hope that things will get better.
The ideation process started with sketching several croquis to just put down my raw feelings and ideas down in a shoe form, each relating to the corresponding theme.
From there I chose a couple of the ones that stood out to me from each theme and created more detailed sketches for them.
Past
Present
Future
Once I had the detailed sketches down, I narrowed them down to four from each theme that I saw had the most potential.
Past
Present
Future
Then, I narrowed them down to the final three of each theme which would be part of my collection. A total of nine shoes.
And lastly from those final nine for my collection, I chose three, one from each theme, which I’d end up making.
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My first shoe—or in other words, my past shoe—I approached more as a physical collage. For the past, I reflected on the comfort I find in memories with my family back in Venezuela, especially with my grandfather, who inspired this shoe.
My grandpa was very much into baseball and was one of the main reasons I started playing it when I was little. For that reason, the overall look of the shoe is meant to reflect a baseball cleat. Continuing with the baseball theme, the shoe is made up of patches from a Leones de Caracas jersey, which was the professional team from the city where I lived. One of my best and fondest memories is of riding around in my grandpa’s green jeep, which is why I chose the green stitching and the light brown lining to represent the seats in the jeep. The brown soles are a reference to the dirt fields where we’d usually go to play either soccer or baseball, and the maroon tongue is a nod to the Venezuelan national soccer team, who wears maroon.
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I approached my present shoe more directly. For the present, I looked at how I escape into the energy of the city—a place that offers constant distraction whenever I need it.
I drew inspiration from the colors of subway seats, using them as the main protagonists of the shoe. I still wanted to keep the essence of the grimy feel the city has, which is why I chose greys as the supporting colors—a nod to the buildings, streets, and subways. For the main body of the shoe, I overlaid a see-through leather on top of a shiny silver leather to mute the shine and give it a dirtier, more lived-in feel.
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And lastly, for my future shoe, I took a more emotional and reflective approach. For the future, I imagined a version of myself transformed by growth and clarity, rising above the uncertainties I face today.
The main focus of this shoe is the materiality, made from a pink, see-through vinyl. I chose this material to create a futuristic aesthetic, as well as to symbolize personal growth and the journey toward one’s future, which often leads to clarity, self-discovery, and transformation.
Making Process
The making process for making the three pairs of shoes was very meticulous and very thorough, which speaks to my philosophy and what makes this product stand out.
As mentioned earlier, one of my main inspirations for this project was how the storytelling and intention was dying from sneakers, and instead sneakers were seen as cash grabs where companies spit out thousands upon thousands of sneakers, which also speaks to an environmental issue.
For this reason I chose to fully hand make my shoes, from sourcing, cutting, sewing, lasting, and glueing. I wanted to shine a light to traditional shoemaking, where the focus was really the craftsmanship and making products that last.
Although a very laborious process, this emphasized the focus on intention with each shoe. I was always closely working with the shoes, even to hand poking each hole to then hand stitch every single part
The whole purpose was to create a whole deeper connection between the shoe and the wearer. As the maker, you grow a connection with the shoe as you plan out every little detail in the making process and really care for each thing to turn out as good as possible.
That whole emotion and connection is then able to be felt as the wearer, especially as you notice the small imperfections, as well as learning about the story that went into the making of the shoe.