- The BKI-built shoe debuted at GIDEON’s launch event in March 2011
Client: GIDEON Shoes
Brief: Create a fantastic, large-scale replica a sneaker from the Australian shoe label GIDEON
Our GIDEON Shoe was a HUGE (huge being the operative word) success! Seeing our handiwork fascinate the crowd at the Australian shoe label’s launch event in March was immensely satisfying after a pedal-to-the-metal week of fabrication.
- The Inspiration
From confirmation to installation, the Big Kahuna team had 7 days to custom fabricate a 3.2 metre, golden high top. Step 1: We had a decision to make — take the familiar and slightly easier option of sculpting the gigantic shoe from polystyrene like we did with the oversized Gel Kayano runner for ASICS a few years ago; or, take the road-less-traveled (and much more demanding) by handcrafting this stunning sneaker so that it as close to the real deal as possible. Being Big Kahuna (over-achievers and, one might say, gluttons for punishment), we went for Option 2.
Now, creating a large scale replica in 7 days is a feat in itself. But create a large scale replica using the actual shoemaker’s patterns with materials as close to the originals as possible, plus account for coordinating various suppliers, work schedules and the unavoidable switches to Plan B, C & sometimes D in 7 days time, is a bloody marathon (the rainy days didn’t help either!) But, to see the shiny, happy face
of Sneaky Sound System’s Daimon Downey as he told everyone, “The Shoe is here! The Shoe is here!” while the BKI team wrangled the goliath through the door, made the blood, sweat and tears all worthwhile.
Daimon was the one who told GIDEON that BKI was the one to make this shoe. As Matt Noffs of GIDEON and the Noffs Foundation (GIDEON is a social enterprise of the Noffs Foundation) explained, “Daimon Downey, who came up with the idea for the shoe in a dream he had, said ‘if Big Kahuna can’t make this baby, no one can.’ Then he disappeared in a puff of pink smoke. It was weird.”
In the end, the Big Kahuna team delivered a beautifully crafted, one-of-a-kind work of art that is more than just an aesthetic copy, but a tactile replica that GIDEON customers can touch, feel and interact with. We hope many customers sit on the toe of our Shoe to try on GIDEON fantastic designs for years to come.
