Kobi Levi Footwear: Wearable Sculptures At Your Feet

published in: Accessories, 05 Oct 2011

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Coffee? Porcelian version, 2011, Leather

Kobi Levi is not your average freelance footwear designer. Looking at his shoes one might think of him also as an artist/sculptor extraordinaire. Levi graduated from Bezalel academy of Art & Design in 2001, with a degree in footwear and development.

Coffee? Diner version, 2011, Leather

He views the shoe as a canvas. The trigger for Levi to create a new piece comes when an idea, a concept and/or an image comes to his mind. The combination of the image and footwear creates a new hybrid and the design/concept comes to life. Most of the inspirations are out of the "shoe-world", and give the footwear an extreme transformation. The result is usually humoristic with a unique point of view about footwear.

Contemporary Chinese for The APM mall exhibition in Hong Kong, 2011, Leather

Another aspect of the creation for Levi is the realization. All the pieces are hand-made in his studio. The challenging technical development is the key to bring the design to life in the best way," he explains. Each part of the shoe is made from the start: heels carved by hand, pattern cut, stitching and assembling, all with great attention to detail.

Olive Oyl, 2011, Leather

So are the shoes wearable or just a piece of art? "My designs are a combination of art, design, and fashion. I treat them as wearable sculptures. They are real shoes! They can function like real shoes, although the reason to create them is not functionality, it's creativity. Sense of humor is an important part of my work, and of me! I like to see my designs both on display, as well as on feet. They are "alive" in different ways," he says.

Blond Ambition, 2011, Leather

His pieces may be influenced by different things, however, some of them could easily be part of the collections for high fashion houses such as Moschino (see Olive Oyl design), and Jean Paul Gaultier (see Blond Ambition design). And though he has not worked for them yet, he has collaborated both with Israeli and international companies, and has also designed commercial footwear in Italy, China and Brazil.

Slide, 2010, Leather

His work has been exhibited, in group with other artists', all over the world from Tokyo to Düsseldorf, to Dongguan, Verona, Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, St. Étienne and Berlin. However, his first solo exhibition was 'Walkable', in January 2011. "I titled it "Walkable" after getting asked over and over again if my designs are walkable," he explains. "I guess people find it hard to believe that these are real. I think it makes it more fun to see it on and working." In May 2011 he exhibited his work in HongKong at the APM mall, after an invitation from the Mall's promotion department. He designed especially for this purpose the 'Contemporary Chinese' shoe, as well as another one called 'Mother&Daughter'.

Sling-Shot, 2010, Leather & wood

Levi is currently working on his women shoe line in Tel-Aviv, Israel, and selected designs are available by order directly from his studio.

Chewing Gum, 2009, Leather

For more details you can reach Kobi Here.

All images courtesy of Kobi Levi©

Market Trolley, 1998, Textile & Rubber