In the fashion world, we have seen everything from haute couture collections to custom jewelry lines. Shoes of all kinds have been produced too, and usually tend to offer an interesting story—whether futuristic athletic shoes are being customized for runners, or designers are 3D printing elegant ballet flats or outrageous looking high heels.
Now comes the latest in casual cool from PEAK, an international company headquartered in China, known for its extensive sports products. The ‘Alien Beast’ is a new pair of shoes just released by PEAK, and they do have an enticing look—not to mention that edgy name! And while often marketing may be what it’s all about in the fashion and footwear realm, they have continued to refine their development of sneakers (check out their unique basketball and volleyball shoes launched over the past few years).
With the Alien Beast model, PEAK designers embraced the classic “art imitating nature” technique, invoking the influence of exotic animals from China. The design is both striking and alluring due to the sharp edges and corners, and stark lines.
With a detailed design, PEAK meant to imitate both bone spurs and scales, melding a wing shape onto the heel to complement the upper portion—suggesting the opportunity for flight, as well as that of a dragon’s face staring at you. Bringing the designs to life with bionics and integrated into one piece—rather than “spliced” into sections, the goal of the team at PEAK was to create a smooth look, while offering comfort to the consumer. Even with their beastly name, the 3D printed shoes are somewhat delicate, featuring a smooth texture and anti-skid soles.
Overall, the PEAK collection targets consumers engaged in running, tennis, basketball, and football. They offer a wide range of products which are manufactured conventionally but continue to move toward fully 3D printed products. This has been a trend for a smattering of footwear manufacturers, to include some major players like Adidas—ambitiously planning for mass 3D printing automation, only to kill off some of their Speedfactories last year. As other companies like PEAK continue to be optimistic about 3D printing in footwear (in small volume so far), only time will tell whether it is a novelty or truly a technology that can be integrated into and transform this type of manufacturing.
PEAK was founded in 1989 and operates a network of 6,000 stores around the world dedicated to sales of shoes, sports clothing, and accessories. They have also been very involved with athletes worldwide—from medal-winning Olympians to basketball players and soccer players.
Alien Beast footwear went on sale August 12th in Beijing, with only a limited amount of 299 pairs available for sale.
[Source / Images: Tencent]
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