Leila Tamar Kerze is a footwear and accessories designer and developer currently based in Los Angeles.
Leila Tamar Kerze is a footwear and accessories designer and developer currently based in Los Angeles.
Smithe, a new streetwear brand, connected with me to develop their footwear in 2017, starting with a men’s basketball inspired sneaker.
I listened to their vision and analyzed the brand DNA. We played with different iterations for the construction, logo, and details, paying attention to aesthetic, as well as pricing, and minimums for the various components. With a new brand, I usually avoid investing in design elements that require hefty MOQs; those are often more suited to more established brands with history.
I sourced factory options and materials and went on to develop the prototypes and later, color samples, together with a small factory in Tuscany that makes shoes for Jimmy Choo and Saint Laurent among others. My fingers are crossed for Smithe’s success, so we can go on to develop the women’s version of this sneaker… ;)
After working out ideas with the brand and sending pencil sketches and revisions, I did the final sketch in Illustrator for everyone to be able to work with easily, from the brand in Los Angeles, to the factory in Italy.
Sometimes particular components are challenging to source, like the side vent eyelets in this case. Fortunately there is an abundance of amazing resources in Italy.
From here we examine dimensions compared to the original design, and what looks best in real life.
We tested this in laser and ultimately decided to leave the outsole clean and minimal.
After testing the logo out with it printed on paper and taped onto the prototype, I’m able to confirm the correct dimensions to the factory so they can develop the stamp mould.
With the second proto, we see if the modifications made to the prototype pattern have met our vision. They did and we were ready to move to color samples.
CAD is great to get an idea of what colors will look like, especially when doing combos. Samples turned out excellent.