Carl Pei\u2019s ethos of injecting fun into technology culminated in not one, but two brands. Most people recognize a Nothing device in the wild, instantly spotting and identifying its transparent design. But as a little sibling to the Nothing brand, Pei also unveiled CMF \u2013 a design-forward tech brand that was specifically founded to bring great technology and great design to the masses.<\/p>\n
CMF actually pre-empted Nothing on a few fronts, it launched the first 3-camera smartphone before Nothing, it rolled out GaN chargers before Nothing, it even still holds the mantle of being the only brand of the two to have a smartwatch\u2026 and now it seems like CMF is adding sneakers to its list. The sneakers come as a result of a collab with Indian sneaker brand Gully Labs, but rather than merely launching a sneaker line, the two brands decided to turn the exercise into a community design effort. The result, perhaps one of the most interesting pieces of footwear I\u2019ve seen from the design community. This particular concept by Abhishek Mistry injects CMF\u2019s design ethos into a piece of footwear brilliantly. Aside from just making a neon orange pair of shoes, Mistry wove CMF details into them too, ditching the laces for a BOA system, and translating the CMF Phone\u2019s modular backplate into a modular heel counter. The result feels perfectly CMF, it\u2019s edgy, wild, and has that iconic flair that Pei\u2019s constantly spoken about injecting into the products he creates.<\/p>\n
Designer: Abhishek Mistry<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The purpose of the community challenge was to rally the community behind the company \u2013 a classic move to build culture while also ensuring a strong, unwavering base of support. A side pursuit, however, is to also release a product that captures the brand\u2019s essence perfectly \u2013 and Mistry\u2019s design does that remarkably well. CMF\u2019s design ethos has always been around building products that are fun, interactive, and modular. It\u2019s practically baked into the Phone 1 and Phone 2 Pro\u2019s designs, as well as the Buds series. The interaction manifests in the form of a laceless design that ditches conventional laces for a closed-loop BOA system. A knob, that looks very similar to the one found on the Phone and the Buds, lets you tighten or loosen the shoes, giving them a wonderfully tactile and enjoyable touch. You don\u2019t need two hands to fasten your shoes, and you sure as hell don\u2019t need velcro. Rotate the knob to tighten, rotate the other way to loosen. Genius.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The shoes also come in four colorways that match the CMF phones, you\u2019ve got the iconic Orange color (which personally looks better on the shoes than on CMF\u2019s tech), but then for the faint of heart, you\u2019ve got more somber colors like white, black, and light green. The paneling feels exquisitely premium, as the shoes use cutting-edge new-age materials, or as Mistry calls, technical fabric. There\u2019s an interplay of matte and metallic finishes, quite like on the Phone 2 Pro, and the CMF logo is confidently placed on the BOA knob, while the Gully Labs logo finds its way on the front.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n That, however, isn\u2019t where Mistry draws the line. Like the Phone 1 and 2 Pro, the sneaker builds modularity into its design too, giving the entire community the ability to customize their shoes while also opening up an entire third-party aftermarket for custom parts. The design borrows from the CMF Phones\u2019 removable backplates, featuring a removable heel cover that\u2019s held together by the same screws found on the Phone 1 and 2 Pro. Simply unscrew the heel cover on your existing shoe and swap it for something more funky or more your style. You could go for a color-change, a texture-change, even a material change should you choose! Want to go even more wild? Turn that modular heel into an accessory mount \u2013 maybe for AirTags, maybe a mount for a GoPro, the possibilities are quite literally endless, and let\u2019s just say, CMF\u2019s target audience has a surplus of creativity!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n For now, Mistry\u2019s footwear exists as a fan-made concept, but the competition\u2019s underway, and with enough luck, designs like Mistry\u2019s could get officially picked up by the brands and potentially turned into actual footwear. If you\u2019d love to see modular sneakers with BOA fasteners, go check out Abhishek Mistry\u2019s Instagram page<\/a> for more photos. Or if you\u2019re interested in designing your own shoes, check out the official competition page<\/a> for more info.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The post Nothing\u2019s CMF gets its own Sneaker Line with this edgy, modular Fan-made Design<\/a> first appeared on Yanko Design<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Carl Pei\u2019s ethos of injecting fun into technology culminated in not one, but two brands. Most people recognize a Nothing device in the wild, instantly spotting and identifying its transparent design. But as a little … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n