DT News - UK - Artist duo designs shoes with teeth sole

Yvonne Bachmann, DTI

Thu. 18 October 2012

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LONDON – British designers have created an unusual fashion item by gluing 1,050 fake teeth onto the rubber soles of a pair of leather shoes. The Apex Predator shoes were created in 2010 already and were exhibited alongside a Savile Row handmade suit made of human hair, glass eyeballs, bones and a few canine denture teeth.

“The idea for the shoes is based on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection and juxtaposing them with the supernatural elements of pagan rites and rituals,” Mariana Fantich of designer duo Fantich & Young told Dental Tribune ONLINE. “The concept is nature and super-nature; we call this process Darwinian Voodoo. Obviously, this is a big contradiction in terms of the logic and belief systems evident in science and magic, but contradictions create tensions and tensions create creativity, as artists we look for creative tension.”

According to the designers, the shoes were chosen for their style and size (15) and reflect aspects of the concept of the survival of the fittest in Herbert Spencer’s social Darwinism and the financially related theory of economic Darwinism. The Apex Predator shoes make reference to the 2008 financial crisis.

“The overall feedback has been great: we are getting really great feedback from art and design sites and the Apex Predators are now getting some mainstream press coverage. We’re a big hit with the dental fraternity at the moment; it must be something to do with our winning smile!” Fantich said.

The pair of shoes is unique; however, owing to their popularity on the Internet, Fantich and her partner Dominic Young will be offering a limited edition run of various teeth shoes. “We are taking orders for one-off fine art shoes and the price tag at present is £1,500 a pair,” Fantich said. Furthermore, the duo intend to revisit the teeth concept in the near future but nothing definite has been planned.

Asked whether one can actually wear the Apex Predators, Fantich told Dental Tribune ONLINE: “Yes, you can walk on them if you wish but you might need some fillings pretty soon.”

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