Inside-Out Street Shoes

Elisa van Joolen is a Dutch designer who has found a new purpose for unwanted shoes. Van Joolen took old sample shoes from companies such as Nike and Converse and turned them inside out, literally, to create new shoes. The process involves cutting off the outer sole of the shoe and then turning it inside out. A sandal bottom is then affixed to the shoe, and the original outer sole is turned into a pair of sandals.

The result is a set of shoes that, as the designer says, "emphasize the handwork the handwork that is part of these shoes as well, while obscuring or at least de-emphasizing their mass-produced element." Although the idea sounds atypical, to say the least, Elisa van Joolen's shoes actually don't look so far off from what the fashion industry puts out (here's looking at you, Jeremy Scott.)