Dutch architect Rem D Koolhaas and British shoemaker Galahad Clark have launched the latest collection of footwear for their brand United Nude.
Top image: Frame. Above: Eamz X Elastic
The collection includes new versions of their Eamz design (above), a tribute to American designers Charles and Ray Eames.
Above: Label Shoe
United Nude have also collaborated with Dutch fashion designer Antoine Peters to create Label Shoe (above), covered with banners bearing the designer’s name.
Above: Cup X Sandal
See our top ten stories about shoes here.
More about United Nude on Dezeen: Flagship store in Amsterdam (November 2009)
Above: Ultra Loop Buckle
Here is some information about the collection from United Nude:
UNITED NUDE’s launch product, the MOBIUS was revealed in 2003 and has since become an icon in the world of design. The MOBIUS returns in the Spring Summer 2010 collection with straps transforming this revolutionary footwear concept of a single strip which forms the heel, sole, foot-bed and upper and brings seasonal practicality to UNITED NUDE’s most famous style.
Above: Block 2 Strap Hi
UNITED NUDE also presents a second collaboration with Dutch fashion designer Antoine Peters with the LABEL SHOE, a play on the industry’s excessive use of labels forming the style’s distinctive silhouette.
Above: Möbius Strappy Hi
The undeniable success of the EAMZ has brought the evolution of the design to incorporate the use of single ankle straps. The use of elastic or leather straps allow for a breathable design found in the EAMZ SANDAL , EAMZ X ELASTIC and the EAMZ BUCKLE.
Above: Lo Res
UNITED NUDE’s highly successful Spring Summer style LOOP is a concept where a single foot-bed penetrates a sexy loop creating a re- markable and stylish shoe. With the use of ultra strong carbon fiber, the shoe is allowed to reach new heights in the form of the ULTRA LOOP; creating an even more feminine silhouette and a towering 130 millimeter heel height.
Above: Coral
The CUP is designed to literally “cup” the heel of the wearer with a sculptured heel also serving as the back-piece, giving the style not only the desired comfort but also elegance and classic appeal. The CUP is available in a range of styles from pump to sandal with attention- grabbing color combinations.
Above: Lo Res
The FRAME is a remarkable achievement and is also a tribute to the foundation on which the UNITED NUDE brand was established. The FRAME unhinges the common perception of what a high-heeled shoe should be with the construction of the heel being far more centered on the foot-bed while encasing the foot with straps, forming a wearable work of art.
Above: Graffiti
The GRAFFITI uses the brand’s name in a 3D embroidered pattern decorating the shoe as its canvas. The wearer can paint the town her favorite colour by stepping out in this platform peep toe shoe.
Above: Loop Buckle 3
UNITED NUDE’S exceptional design has now led to the expansion of the brand with the opening of the first flagship store in Amsterdam’s city centre. A second flagship store is set to open in the international fashion capital of New York City in early 2010 followed soon thereafter by a third flagship store in Shanghai.
Above: Möbius Mesh Hi
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:58 pm
PLEASE!!!!!! ARCHITECTS!!!!! STOP DESIGNING SHOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:05 pm
These actually look wearable, unlike most of the shoes in the the popular shoe stories posted earlier. Great job, Rem and Galahad Clark!
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:28 pm
My wife has the Möbius shoes and has been wearing them for 7 years or so now. She is picky when it comes to shoes and comfort but she absolutely loves them. Again there are some really nice shoes in this collection which I know she would love to own and wear. Nice job!
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:54 pm
floating shoes! theır structure has worked to much really nıce ıt seems unique and beatıful but top vıew speaks ordınary.. modern or deconstructıvıst ıt suıts everyone..
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Looks interesting, but women will not thank for high heels I think…
Dear architects! Love women and design shoes more!:)
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:07 pm
EMPTY SPACES IN SUCH A SIGNIFICANT AREA OF OUR BODY!!!
WELL…
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:11 pm
@Christina
+1
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:53 pm
Do architect switch to shoes now, as they have no more buildings to design?
Unlike Zaha’s, these one look very architectural and give you that stability feeling. Design is also pretty cool.
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:13 pm
hahaha Andre 2-B-2!
i love your quote! they definitly should love women more than shoes design! :)
they design shoes thinking them so architectural and it’s not always in the benefit of the shoe form / design. they should approach shoes concept diferently than a building concept.
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Dude! Do some research before making comments! Rem D Koolhaas isn’t Rem Koolhaas THE ARCHITECT…
Douche-ball :)
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Let´s support Christina: Please Architects no more building shoes!!!!!
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Why only women’s shoes ?
We man, also want cool footwear !
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Interesting !!
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:46 pm
And I say architects, please give us more more more!!
I love these, and love the way shoes can look more art or, wearable little buildings!
I’m bored with classic shoe shapes etc, and would just love to own a few pairs of shoes like these ones here.
..oh and P.S. I am a woman ;)
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:48 pm
What’s wrong with architects designing shoes? As long as they have good taste, I say go for it. And unlike Zaha’s, these clearly do.
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:00 pm
So sexy!
I’ve never found women’s shoes particularly interesting, but these are just mind blowingly beautiful!
Cup X and Ultra Loop are so cool. Well done Mr Koolhaas. These designs radiate excellent taste and style almost as powerfully as your architecture!
March 2nd, 2010 at 8:34 pm
Hey, is this the new shoe blog ore what :D should join ELLE
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:03 pm
why are you dezeen guys even reporting on this? what (besides from his name) makes rem d koolhaas interesting? if zaha designs a pair of shoes i can understand why you would report that, but this guy _mainly_ does shoes and i cannot really see any other shoe manufacturers getting such a dedicated following by you? its a bit odd. maybe leave it to the shoe blogs?
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:07 pm
can you even confirm that he is an architect? all sources i seem to find denotes him as ‘designer’, and considering the amount of people designing shoes out there, you might wanna broaden your perspective. i’m embarassed.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:19 pm
So much better than those dumb Mojito shoes, these at least look like they would cover the basis function of being a shoe
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:27 pm
I think the one with the Eames leg is very commercial.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:29 pm
not bad…but Koolhas’ it’s like wearing a chair! :-)
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:59 pm
I’d remind those of you leaping to conclusions about architects designing shoes that Red D. Koolhaas is the nephew of the famous architect, rather than the man himself. Galahad Clark is part of the family behind Clarks, the shoe shop. United Nude is a shoemaker, and all of these are wearable shoes. Not even that odd, and they will actually be manufactured and sold (for a lot of money, I don’t doubt). I know there are a lot of stories about architects designing shoes, and Zaha’s were a joke, but these aren’t.
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:03 pm
so more architects designing shoes
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Design Mens Shoes Please! With Heels Too!
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Super shoes. Unlike any others I’ve seen. Love it.
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Perhaps shoes are the ‘chairs of today’ for architects.
Chair for your heels? or in my case bridges for your feet.
regards
Julian
http://www.mojitoshoes
http://www.twitter.com/julianhakes
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:05 pm
i think the angle is too high, too tacos lejanos, too jimmy choo, too much to wear if there is no man in sight, in other words, too wrong
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:46 am
ceci nes’t pa un Zapato
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:55 am
Rem D IS an architect. He has designed some stuff including his own stores, but I don’t think that matters.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:13 am
There’s a lot of haters on the Dezeen blog, but the fact is that these shoes are designed by an architect – Rem D Koolhaas (nephew of the Pritzker award winner) and these shoes are also very comfortable (I own 3 pairs) and I am very excited to see this brand getting as much success as they are getting. Thank god there is one entity in the fashion industry that can contribute something to the world that is wearable, attractive and intelligent.
Keep up the good work United Nude!
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:27 am
Looks neat but i have no idea about shoe comfort.
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:25 am
rem d koolhaas is the nephew of the famous architect rem koolhass. He’s a designer, not an architect. but obviously he gets a lot of inspiration from architecture.
and yes, it does matter, if you want to understand his designs.
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:57 am
Rem D Koolhaas is a very unfortunate name for a dutch designer, at least he can use his signature as D Koolhaas… it’s not my business of couse but in hollywood this would be a problem i think :)
March 3rd, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Rem D Koolhaas has a masters degree in architecture from the technical university of Delft. He’s not just a shoedesigner, but even more so a brand builder. United Nude is a great brand which doing very well! He’s also a lovely guy with a wonderful wife and two adorable kids. So for all the playahataz: Eat a sausage, we know you like it!
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Hmmm I like most of them. “Möbius Mesh Hi” is best, and “Frame” has nice structure, looks a bit like Herzog & de Meuron’s bird’s nest.
March 3rd, 2010 at 6:08 pm
What a load of drivel in the comments section!
Designers of all ilk – PLEASE continue to design iterations of everything. Absolutely everything. And feel free to flex, stretch, and expand your horizon by crossing disciplines.
These shoes are too fascinating to give a loaf about whether the dude’s an architect. We even have a testimonial for the brand here, but were these not wearable, they would still provide inspiration for the next generation. Adopt an improve.
I fully appreciate the effort, Koolhaas. Well done!
I second Alex’s parting shot.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Mr Julian Hakes, these shoes are real, not misleading renders, let’s see something that works on a real foot before you start parading around they pages like your somesort of shoe guru
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:43 pm
Frank – our shoes are also real, just spent last 6 hours hand finishing the latest prototypes which goes off for leather detailing in the morning. Its all a little hush hush, don’t worry you wont have to wait much longer, and I wont be parading anywhere, just busy getting on with things I love.
BTW I think UN’s work is excellent and my wife Cari (also an architect) has many shoes and boots from UN. I feel There are some potential future classics in this range.
‘Rem and Galahad’ keep up the great work and well done.
March 4th, 2010 at 12:44 am
To disband shoes as anything other than groundbreaking as Hakes Mojito is poor form. Why be restrained by established concept when new design leads to new possibilities and broadens the horizon as to the feasibility of a shoe. open your eyes and mind to a new concept and you shall no longer suffer the constraints of society. Wear your shoes responsibly.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:33 am
Rem D Koolhaas is NO Rem L Koolhaas…. Pass me my Jimmy Choos please!
March 4th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Uh…Just want this to be the most commented article of the month….
March 4th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Lovely, definitely lovely.
March 4th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Extreme shoes. Yea! I have never seen such models. This is the meaninig design shoes
March 8th, 2010 at 5:08 am
hey cool job..!!! really nice designs…
And its all about design n designers.. any designers are not restricted to any limits… n in fact both the people have done justice to the design, which is more important.. than who is an architect n who is the shoe designer..
March 11th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Well, i find them fabulous… I don’t think architecture should see fashion design as an obstacle.
March 11th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
oh my god!!!! i love them!
March 12th, 2010 at 2:16 am
Very very nice designs, I love them!!!
March 12th, 2010 at 6:31 am
Really, really nice stuff.
Rem d Koolhaus has really done their homework with this stuff. Some of the examples clearly possess the architect/designer touch, and some—you can’t even tell that an architect did it. This is the kind of work that would make any worthy shoe designer proud, but also, it pays proper homage to the pioneers of women shoe design, like Ferragamo and Vivier.
March 12th, 2010 at 7:38 am
Nice shoes! I would say Designers stop making shoes! and let Architects do this !
March 12th, 2010 at 9:49 am
Top of this page: DESIGN Magazine Dezeen. About designs….
Rem D. Koolhaas is not the architect, but his nephew who no doubt grew up surrounded by/inspired by his uncles designs.
Rem was taught by the famous Dutch shoe designer Jan Jansen.
I would call United Nude a great design shoe label with an architectural aura.
March 12th, 2010 at 10:27 am
Dude,
Most of these are the MOST sexy women’s shoes I have seen for a while! I love them and already bought the faceted shoes for my wife, who is a fashion Designer. SHE LOVES THEM!
Architects, continue to design women’s shoes, PLEASE!
Brian
Industrial Designer
March 13th, 2010 at 4:19 am
1st, This guy is not THE OMA’s architect Rem Koolhaas.
2nd, this guy also designed building(building complex) too, which also look like huge shoes, kinda funny…
March 13th, 2010 at 6:25 am
Here, here Christina in Post #1.
This kind of design devalues the professional integrity of architects and fashion designers.
It’s a bit like Lindsay Lohan collaborating with a fashion house or Brittany Spears ‘creating’ a perfume. It’s nonsense. It’s gimmicky. It’s tacky.
March 21st, 2010 at 12:24 am
they are cool designs. Most importantly, they are really comfortable.
March 22nd, 2010 at 6:04 pm
where can i buy them? i am a materialist! :)