About Course

• 4 Weeks
• Full-time | Monday – Friday from 10.00 AM to 1.00 PM and from 2.00 to 5.00 PM | 120 hours over 4 weeks | 15 students only  

• This is an intensive four-week summer course where students will learn how to design and make a pair of handmade sneakers from scratch and how to deconstruct, regenerate and customize an existing one. Main topics and keywords of the course will be modern artisanal skills, customization, sustainability, recycling, and reuse.

  Instructors will teach students how to create a customized pair of sneakers by using traditional and modern techniques and will encourage them to find innovative solutions to create, upcycle and repair existing branded sneakers. During the first week students will be introduced to shoemaking techniques and tools and will work on a basic sneaker model.

  The second and third weeks will be focused on the development of a pair of customized sneakers, totally thought and created by the students. The last module is fully dedicated to a “second life” experience, where students will learn and practice how to deconstruct sneakers and then create a whole new customized pair.

  Within the program, students will be exposed to the manufacturing methods of three Italian leather and textile districts that specialize in circular economy: Prato (regenerated textile), Santa Croce sull’Arno (vegetable-tanned leather) and Scandicci (recovered leather waste and redundancies).