Designing footwear to be made on a 3D printer requires moving away from a lot of traditional wisdom about shoemaking. This company had to investigate pre-industrial ways of making shoes, to help get ideas of how to go about these. The ending result was a product that fits the shopping moment and Portland environmental ethics. This gives us a personalized shoe that it remotely tailored to the customer’s measurements, that requires no inventory until the order is placed. The shoes can also be disassembled, removed, and repurposed. The company is Hilos, and they are the winner of this year’s PitchfestNW, where a panel of judges crowned the company.
Hilos is founded by Stahl and Gaia Giladi, from a field of startups. Stahl and Giladi moved to Portland to start Hilos, with the hopes to be near Nike and Adidas. The company’s goal is zero-waste, additive footwear. Their shoes help bring performance, durability, and customization to 3D printing; all their shoes are premium and luxurious. The two founders saw the innovation and customization that 3D printing can bring, and how much footwear can use it. They felt footwear was missing a lot of the technology that could be useful. They have a very good approach and very useful ideas. I look forward to seeing what Hilos can do for 3D printed shoes in the future. To view the entire video interview, be sure to click on the link below!
Original Article: https://www.wweek.com/technology/2020/12/07/hilos-is-a-cinderella-story-with-the-slipper-made-on-a-3-d-printer/
