This year during Milan Design Week, which begins June 6, Vibram will present the multidisciplinary project “one with nature – twenty years of Vibram FiveFingers,” drawing on its product archive to celebrate Vibram FiveFingers by looking back over the 20 years since the first prototype. An example of courage and entrepreneurial vision, the Vibram FiveFingers shoe unites technological experimentation with innovation, testing in the field with the outdoor community.
The Vibram Connection Lab, the innovation and creativity hub in Via Voghera, Milan, will play host to an exhibition presenting a selection of more than 100 Vibram FiveFingers prototypes selected by Robert Fliri from the Vibram archive and his personal collection.
The project tells the story of the evolution of Vibram FiveFingers, the “foot glove,” which, with its innovative concept and unusual design, has revolutionized the idea of walking, recalling the sensation of being barefoot while providing functional protection. With FiveFingers, slim sole and organic shape, becoming almost one with the foot itself, thus regaining maximum sensitivity and freedom of movement.
For the occasion, Mandalaki Studio will present the installation Feel the nature within the exhibition space. Nature is the common thread that binds the two products, a light and a shoe, through the common concept of a minimalist experience based on sensations, freedom and performance. Using the Halo Edition light, Mandalaki has re-interpreted the Vibram space, transforming it into a natural landscape characterized by color shades that open windows in time and space.
The exhibition also will include a video installation inspired by the minimalist world of Vibram FiveFingers and created by PWR, the Berlin-based firm founded by Hanna Nilsson and Rasmus Svensson, which operates in the fields of research, design and development.
Lastly, with a view to valorizing and expressing the innovation that characterizes the work of Vibram, the event will see the presentation of the first book on the history of Vibram FiveFingers and the archive on display. The book will be the first in a series of monographs published by Capsule, a twin publication to KALEIDOSCOPE, due this month. Published annually, it will be a blend of magazine and almanac, focusing on the world of design in its broadest sense, including interior design and architecture, fashion and technology, ecology and beauty, to explore the relationship between desire and consumption.
The exhibition “one with nature” will be open to the public until June 18 at the Vibram Connection Lab in Via Voghera 11, Milan.
