Spring-loaded action added to women’s high heeled shoes makes for a high-powered pedestrian vehicle that lifts you higher and gets you where you’re going faster. Inspired by the urban walking woman, her notorious investment in her footwear, and especially her desire to live more sustainably.
HOW IT WORKS
A carbon fiber leaf spring in a c-coil shape is bolted to the truncated heel of a shoe. The kit includes a pair of springs, attachment component, and instructions. The kit model allows for spring rate tailoring based on the wearer’s height, weight, and lifestyle. The wearer brings the kit and her favorite pair of heels to her neighborhood cobbler who affixes the springs, hotrodding her shoes.
WHY WE LIKE IT (aka The Goods)
The Upshoes spring kit acknowledges that the term ‘transport’ is interpreted more widely than in industrialized nations. Walking, cycling, animal-driven vehicles and even wheelbarrows are transport too, and must be considered in transport planning. Upshoes provide an alternative transport technology that decreases the consumption of fossil fuels in urban areas where walking is an efficient way to get around.
Tailored to the individual, the kit …