Return to the Soil with H?Katsukawa’s Shoes

"Sustainable" and "sustainability" have become recurring words in fashion. The industry has indeed become aware of the damages of a fast and faster continuous production of garments and accessories and even high street retailers have started shifting their attention towards these issues, maybe hoping they will win the hearts of "green" consumers.

Quite often, though, consumers complain about the bland results of some of the most sustainable experiments, but there are independent designers who seem to be able to come up with wicked ideas that do even have a conceptual twist about them. Japanese footwear designer and crafstman Eiichi Katsukawa is among them. The designer is currently getting ready to launch at the end of October a new product for his Tokyo-based brand – H?Katsukawa.

The new design – a pair of brogues in distressed "Nibe" leather (reversed cowhide) accompanied by a wooden coffin rather than a box – is inspired by the theme of returning to the soil.

"I'm a shoe craftsman, but I think about the issues our planet faces every day," Katsukawa told Irenebrination via email. "One day I sat down and thought about how the root cause of many problems we face is the fact that most of the things we use today cannot be returned to the soil".

Most of these things have been produced in the last 100 years, so Katsukawa started thinking about how he could maybe reverse the trend. "What if weapons were made of bamboo and bombs were made of a cow's droppings?" he wondered. After experimenting for a while he came up with shoes made using natural materials that can be buried in their own coffin.

"Human beings are nature and nature can be returned to the soil," the designer explained, continuing "when I return to the soil, I can do so with my shoes as well."

The shoes will be launched at a special event entitled "Kutsuhaku", at the Tokyo-based department stores Isetan Men's (shoe floor) from 28th October to 10th November 2015. And who could have ever thought that it would have been possible one day to wish death to fashion in such a sustainable and conceptual way?