Footwear Design for Resale
- Ph.d. studerende
-
Annie Purdy
- Projektperiode
- aug. 2026 - jul. 2029
- Hovedvejleder
- Ulla Ræbild
- Projektvejleder
- Karen Marie Hasling, Iryna Kucher, Dr. Alexia Tischberger-Aldrian (The Technical University of Leoben, Austria)
- LAB
- LAB for Bæredygtighed og Design
- LAB tema
- Designer Life
Everyday Life
Material Life - Samarbejdspartnere
- SCARPA. Sustainable and Circular Footwear Training Program
The Technical University of Leoben, Austria
ANGULUS / ATC Footwear
Behave Green
About
Resale offers an opportunity to extend product lifetimes, but footwear presents particular challenges relating to wear, fit, hygiene, trust, value and desirability. This project asks what happens when resale is considered not simply as something that occurs after a shoe has been designed, but as a condition of design from the outset.
Purpose
It aims to identify the material, functional, aesthetic and experiential qualities that help footwear retain value and desirability beyond its first owner. By connecting consumer practices with footwear design and the wider resale ecosystem, the research will develop design principles and experimental approaches that can support designers and industry in considering resale earlier in the design process.
“Resale begins long before a shoe reaches its second owner. What if we considered that next person from the moment we begin designing?”
Methods and expected results
It works with consumers, footwear communities, resale stakeholders and industry through interviews, observations, footwear wardrobe studies, workshops and object-based research. These insights feed into studio experimentation, footwear prototypes and iterative testing. Expected outcomes include peer-reviewed research, experimental footwear, design principles and practical knowledge for designing footwear or multiple lives.
Societal relevance and impact
Resale can extend product lifetimes, but successful circular systems depend on more than infrastructure or business models: products themselves need to be designed to move between people. By connecting consumer behaviour, design practice and circular systems, the project aims to contribute knowledge that can help designers, businesses and consumers rethink how footwear is designed, valued, used and passed on.
Contribution to debate and knowledge sharing
Engagement with footwear companies, resale platforms and industry organisations will connect academic research with professional practice. Through exhibitions, talks and non-academic publications, the project will also contribute to wider conversations around product longevity, second-hand consumption and the role designers can play in creating more circular footwear systems.
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