Footwear Production Is Broken. So Are Our Feet. Can 3D Print Fix Both?

Asher Clark, of the famous Clarks shoe dynasty, is a footwear designer who is pledging allegiance to the health of people and the planet. Today's shoes, he says, undermine thousands of years of pedal evolution, encasing our feet in cushioning they never needed, progressively weakening them and restricting our kinetic abilities. Adding further (planetary) injury, footwear manufacturing follows 'subtractive' material-cutting methods with inherent waste levels of around 20-45 percent, and the industry operates on a forecast-led mass-production model that over-orders and undersells, according to Clark. Mass shoe manufacturing produces around 24 billion pairs each year; an estimated similar number ends up in landfill. Leaving behind traditional footwear methods, Clark co-founded Vivobarefoot with his cousin Galahad Clark in 2010. The brand produces minimal silhouettes without cushioning, aiming to support foot function as nature intended. Of his rejection of cobbler traditions, Clark says: "As a shoe designer/maker, you realize when you are making shoes that have no regard for feet, you can either get after this [problem], or not, and we decided to get after it. The shoe industry is trashing your feet and the planet, and that's a truth I get out of bed for in the morning." Clark reports that a significant portion of barefoot growth they have seen is coming from the elite sports movement. "Big athletes, like Mack Hollins, are wearing our product. Strong healthy capable feet are the foundation of strong healthy capable movement." Surfers John John Florence and Laura Crane, and climber Daisuke Ichimiya are also advocates. Vivobarefoot's co-founder explains the shoes aren't there to augment movement. "This barefoot wear is an amazing pre and post-strength and conditioning tool. It's not really about the footwear, it's about letting your feet do what they evolved to do". In aiming to tackle footwear's environmental and bomechanical shortcomings, the Clarks heir believes additive manufacturing-3D printing-is the answer to both design and production woes, better serving our feet and Earth. But is local 3D printing of shoes feasible and viable, or is it a moonshot too far from our Earthly realities?