Public vote opens for Smit & Zoon shoe challenge
Part of leather chemicals group Smit & Zoon’s celebration of its 200th anniversary this year is a design competition in which it has invited five designers to create shoes with the emphasis on longevity.
The designers used chrome-free, heavy metal-free and aldehyde-free Zeology-tanned leather from tanners working with Nera, the company Smit & Zoon set up in October 2020 to bring new tanning solutions to market.
There are two prizes in the competition, one awarded by a professional jury, chaired by Italian design consultant Alessandro Viganò, and the other resulting from a public vote. To this end, Smit & Zoon has now published images and information about the designs that five finalists have come up with.
It has asked people to view the finalists’ entries and submit a vote for their favourite by June 3.
The five finalists are Javier Abañil Mogollón from Spain, Hommy Diaz from the US, Guglielmo Gormo from Italy, Alexandros Vasdekis from Greece, and Laure Wolff from France.
Smit & Zoon has partnered with Milan-based design school Arsutoria on this project.
