Applications - 3D Printing: The Basics and Beyond - page 40

Shoes
Nike started using 3D printing for end-use products with the Vapor Laser Talon which was
equipped with 3D printed cleats for elite American football players, which the year after was
upgraded in the Vapor Carbon Elite. Brooks running shoe Glycerin 11 featured an upper part
with 15 to 18 layers of 3D printed highly viscous polymers when it was launched in 2013.
Sols, a US startup, 3D prints insoles that help with foot pain and other problems. Spanish fil-
ament producer Recreus markets a soft flexible material called filaflex, and their show-piece
used to be a pair of 3D printed shoes that people can print with their home printer. Feetz
in San Diego offers customized 3D printed shoes for people who have trouble to find shoes
that fit.
Several designers like Sebastian Errazuriz, Huang/Fizel, Janne Kyttanen, Iris Van Herpen,
Katrien Herdewyn etc. have made 3D printed shoes collections.
London designer and researcher Shamees Aden is working on a pair of running shoes that
are made of protocells. The shoes can be 3D printed to an exact fit, like a second skin. The
shoes' synthetic biological material can repair itself overnight and it reacts to pressure and
movement and adjusts accordingly while running [xxvii] . These shoes are not expected to be
ready for the market for many years to come, unfortunately.