Last month, I attended and displayed some of my wares at a 3D printing symposium. While there, I saw a presentation by Aly Khalifa about, among other things, Lyf Shoes.
He showed off some prototypes of the new footwear line he is developing: fully customizable, sustainable, recyclable, breathable, and about a dozen other buzzwords. The built-in tech is pretty impressive for something you walk on: Inside each pair of the Lyf betas is a small Arduino-based data logger, to help customize the fit and wear pattern of your shoes when you bring them back for an upgrade. Among all that, two details from the presentation stuck with me. One, 3D printed on-demand parts. And two, women’s styles.
With Mothers’ Day approaching, I was already on the lookout for something special for my wife that involved our kids’ artwork. So, the next day, I contacted Aly and the folks at DesignBox developing Lyf shoes. A week or so later, I scanned and sent them a handful of paintings by our two- and five-year-old.
They sent me back this rendering:
On Saturday, my son and I drove downtown to DesignBox to pick up the real thing, his surprise for Mommy on Mothers’ Day.
You can read all about the technology and sustainable practices behind Lyf, and sign up to be a beta tester to get your own pair, at LyfShoes.com.