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TEAM TARGET
Roster: Guilherme Lemes, Jesus Garate, Jared Fiorovich and Shaun Kosoy (CMF)
Today we continued with our colors and materials lesson. This morning we received visitors from the San Fang Chemical Industry. They introduced us into their line of materials, textures and finishes. They gave us a very complete explanation of how they make microfiber (synthetic leather). This material has a super-soft hand feel, water-proof, versatile, and the closes to genuine leather. San Fang has devoted many years to develop microfiber products, to the point where they have various applications for microfiber on different industries like mobile devices, shoes, sport’s equipment, electronics and the medial industry. This material can be used for many industries, but during this visit they brought us some examples of their materials being applied on the shoe industry. The examples include shoes like the Nike Kobe 9 Elite Low, Nike Lil’ Penny Posite, Nike Mercurial Victory V IC, etc. It was extremely interesting how technology has come to a position where we can see materials taking the place of genuine leather and doing an outstanding job at that. The best part about this visit was looking at all the many different textures, finishes and colors that San Fang can do with their microfibers.
Then later, our colors and materials instructor, Suzette Henry, gave us a lecture on real leather. This lesson included a detail explanation of how a leather tannery works. Suzette also included some of her experiences in the shoe industry. This included traveling around the world looking for great inspiration and materials for the Jordan Brand. It is inspiring to hear her stories and see how she was such a significant part of the design process at Jordan back when she worked there. She was able to make us understand how important colors and materials are just by telling us some of her experiences in the industry.
Now back to sketching and finishing my design story. We have an important presentation Friday, where we will be showing our final six concepts to our classmates, instructors and guests designers.
Ready for more Materials and Colors. Some of San Fang’s material examples and applications. Suzette showing us an example of “wet blue” leather.
