LIFE ON FOOT

CAMPER AT THE DESIGN MUSEUM

By Daniela Bonetto

Camper is a casual footwear brand from the island of Mallorca in Spain. Founded in 1975, the family business has been making shoes for nearly 140 years bringing a history of craftsmanship and a passion for creativity to establish a contemporary and unique brand. From the very beginning Camper walked a different path. Becoming well-known for its casual unisex approach to footwear designs and for its diverse store concepts, the company now sells over 4 million pairs of shoes annually, has over 400 stores and is available across 40 countries

Life on Foot, curated by Pete Collard with guest curator Anniina Koivu, uses some of Camper’s most recognisable styles – Pelotas, Himalayan, Twins and Wabi – as lenses through which to explore the design, manufacturing and history of this independent family-run business whose products are purchased in their millions worldwide.

Taking visitors from the design studios in Mallorca to high-tech mass production facilities in the Far East, and on to shop floors across the globe, the exhibition includes: exclusive behind-the-scenes material from the development of the SS15 and AW15 collections; recreations of retail spaces designed by Marti Guixé, Nendo, Jaimie Hayon, Tomas Alonso, Bouroullec Brothers, Campana Bothers, Tokujin Yoshioka, Kengo Kuma, Shigeru Ban, Fernando Amat and Doshi Levien; shoe collaborations by Hella Jongerius, Jasper Morrison, Bernhard Willhelm and Gosha Rubchinskiy; interviews with company founder Lorenzo Fluxà and Creative Director Romain Kremer; as well as previously unseen material from the company’s extensive archives.

Life on Foot showcases Camper’s traditional shoemaking skills and contemporary design practice, bringing together sketched concepts, prototype products, as-yet-unreleased pieces and examples of the their non-conformist, often humorous approach to advertising. The exhibition also looks at the company’s history, which started in 1877 when Antonio Fluxà set sail for England to investigate new methods of industrial manufacturing.

Finally, the exhibition explores the potential future of walking; interrogating the ways in which technological and sociological developments might change the pedestrian experience. From smart materials to augmented reality, wearable technology to kinetic pavements, an array of speculative design ideas suggest new directions and possibilities for ‘life on foot’.

Life on Foot: Camper at the Design Museum is supported by a full programme of events including: an evening talk with company founder Miguel Fluxa and longtime collaborator Marti Guixe; a walking tour of Bermondsey and Sunday sketching workshops at the museum.

13 May – 1 November 2015
designmuseum.org