A Sustainable Step for Kids’ Footwear: Michele di Carlo’s Ingenious 4Steps Design

In a bid to tackle the footwear industry’s environmental toll, Italian product designer Michele di Carlo has unveiled an innovative concept that could revolutionize the way children’s shoes are manufactured and consumed.

Dubbed 4Steps, Di Carlo’s brainchild is a series of customizable and adjustable 3D-printed sneakers designed specifically for kids aged six to fourteen. These lightweight kicks, weighing a mere 123 grams, can be disassembled and stretched to accommodate up to five different shoe sizes, ensuring a perfect fit as little feet grow.

But it’s not just their adjustability that makes 4Steps a game-changer. The sneakers incorporate a molded honeycomb structure, adding breathability and further reducing weight, while the use of 3D printing technology minimizes the energy expended in production.

Di Carlo has already produced a prototype using Filaflex filament, a durable and soft thermoplastic polyurethane, and envisions incorporating a 3D technical fabric sock derived from automotive applications.

Customization is at the heart of 4Steps, with an online configurator allowing kids to choose colors and upload personal logos or characters, which the 3D printer will then bring to life. Moreover, every component of the shoe is replaceable, separable, and disposable, facilitating easy recycling and repair.

“They can wear their custom 4Steps until they’re 15 years old,” Di Carlo explains. “They just need to ask someone’s help, or they themselves may be able to do it, to disassemble the adjustable 3D-printed sneakers.”

The elastic strings that hold the shoes together can be unclipped, and the retractable heels can be refitted to accommodate the wearer’s new foot size, ensuring a seamless transition as they grow.

Di Carlo first unveiled 4Steps as his innovative thesis project at the Università di Camerino in Italy back in 2017, but he has continued to refine and progress the design, driven by a desire to address the pressing issue of eco-sustainability in the footwear industry.

“A pair of running shoes alone can generate 30 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions,” he notes, underscoring the urgency of his mission.

While 4Steps remains a concept design, Di Carlo’s vision for a sustainable, circular economy approach to children’s footwear could pave the way for a more environmentally conscious future in the industry.