News

Monday 4 July 2005

One step ahead in footwear design

The sales are here and the prospect of sore feet and blisters from trudging around town in fancy shoes will be the bugbear of women across the country. But all that could be a thing of the past thanks to a brilliant new invention by a Nottingham Trent University product design student – a shoe with a detachable high heel.

Sarah Wyman came up with the idea when she and her friends faced a long walk home after missing their taxi. Dubbed the Multi-Functional Shoe, a polyurethane flexible sole means it can be worn in either the high-heeled or flat position, making it the perfect accessory for both formal and informal occasions.

The heel is removed and attached by sliding an arch support rod into the slot under the ball of the sole, placing a ‘T’ piece inside and twisting it from the heel base to secure the heel. Sarah created the shoe as part of her final-year project on the BSc (Hons) Product Design course at Nottingham Trent University.

Sarah, who is hoping to get the product on the market, said: “The shoe can be worn in the high-heeled position for a formal event or a night out, or in the flat position for informal events or for when facing a lot of walking. The idea obviously saves on luggage too as travellers would only need to take one shoe for smart and casual occasions, instead of two. It’s a fashionable alternative to conventional footwear.”

Dr Amin Al-Habaibeh, Senior Lecturer in Product Design and project supervisor, said: “Sarah has come up with an innovative, simple and practical design that could be easily manufactured at a reasonable cost. From the start she used different software to design and compare shoe mechanisms to optimise her product.”

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Dave Rogers, Press Officer, on Tel: 0115 848 2650 or via email: dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk

Or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on Tel: 0115 848 6589 or via email: therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk