Football Boots for People with Cerebral Palsy
DESIGN: Yoosung Kim
Switzerland
make me! 2022
This project is to make easy on/off football boots for people with cerebral palsy who are struggling with wearing shoes. Also, it provides a function to adjust their fit precisely.
Cerebral palsy is one of the most common diseases in the world. CP football is a football game for people with cerebral palsy. There are 88 National teams globally. I interviewed two Korean national CP Football players. They said most players have a disability on one side of their body, so it is difficult to tie their shoelaces. Therefore, they always need their coach’s help to tie shoelaces. Also, Shoelaces are often untied during the game, and in this case, players ask the referee for a time-out.
Every step I got feedback from CP football players. Finally they can wear these boots one-handed. The velcro is to the end of the lace for easy lockdown, and because it is located on the side, it is firmly held in place even with vigorous movement. The tongue structure that slopes to the side does not cause discomfort when kicking the ball, and the opening significantly increases when they are taking off the shoe.
Football Boots for People with Cerebral Palsy, design: Yoosung Kim / from the designer’s archive
Football Boots for People with Cerebral Palsy, design: Yoosung Kim / from the designer’s archive
YOOSUNG KIM
Yoosung Kim was studying industrial design at Hongik University in Seoul. After graduating, he worked for Yeongkyu Yoo who designed Hololens for Microsoft and co-founder of Cloudandco. During this season, he worked with a broad range of companies, including Disney, Tumi, Never, dot, etc.
After that, He worked as a footwear designer for Japanese sports brand Descente, well known for their minimal and high-tech products. Working as a footwear designer, He developed a new technology for the midsole with one patent and created various innovative shoes for about 4 years.
In 2022, Yoosung Kim is currently enrolled in a master’s course in product design at ECAL in Switzerland to study long-lasting and sustainable design after seeing that too many unsustainable products are being made in the fashion industry each year. His graduation thesis, “Fabrication with Fabric”, is the result of exploring the potential of 3D weaving and 3D knitting to create sustainable products.
