{"id":401686,"date":"2025-09-03T04:41:55","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T20:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/?p=401686"},"modified":"2025-09-18T04:56:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T20:56:54","slug":"philippe-holthuizen-talks-3d-printed-shoe-design-fashion-and-his-brand-fused","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/philippe-holthuizen-talks-3d-printed-shoe-design-fashion-and-his-brand-fused\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippe Holthuizen Talks 3D Printed Shoe Design, Fashion, and His Brand FUSED"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we met Philippe Holthuizen last March on a media trip through Macau and Hong Kong, the conversation naturally turned to shoes. Not just any footwear, but the radical world of 3D printed shoes. Philippe is the founder of FUSED Footwear<\/a>, a pioneering label that merges cutting-edge 3D Printing with fearless shoe design. His sculptural creations blur the lines between art, technology, and fashion, making them stand out in today\u2019s crowded streetwear scene.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this candid conversation, Philippe opens up about his early dreams of car design, his transition into footwear, and the struggles and triumphs of building an experimental brand in Hong Kong. We talk about durability, sustainability, and how 3D Printing could one day make it possible to produce customised shoes anywhere in the world. What follows is an honest look into the mind of a designer who refuses to compromise, and whose creations are as provocative as they are wearable.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"A
Phillipe holding one of his designs: FUSED Oki<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From product designer to footwear designer. How did this happen?<\/b><\/h3>\n

In my case, I became a footwear designer by first wanting to be a car designer. <\/span>
\n<\/span>I used to draw a lot when I was a kid. And I was obsessed with mostly science fiction, science fiction type toys. Sci-fi employs more design thinking than most other areas, because you have to imagine the entire world you\u2019re representing, right? There\u2019s a wide range of creative tasks employed, and if you’re a creator, there’s lots of areas you can work on.<\/span><\/p>\n

For me, it was cars. I learned to appreciate cars from my father, or at least I understood why he appreciated them. The more you look at cars the more you start seeing them as a very interesting puzzle, because they have to be aerodynamic, and their outside shape translates a personality. It\u2019s like a sculpture but it\u2019s also a tool that moves you, your friends and your family around.<\/span><\/p>\n

And mostly, I wanted to be a car designer due to the appeal of the outside bodywork aesthetics. It was really about the sculpture of it. But not as art in a garden, but art that moves and everybody can have.<\/span><\/p>\n

I pursued a career in automotive design with that aim, but after some long years in different schools in the Netherlands and and Barcelona, I realised the only way to find a job in a car factory, was to abandon my entire social life and become hyper focused. Fighter-jet-pilot-like commitment. <\/span>
<\/span>
\n<\/span>After I moved back, I spent 6 years back in Amsterdam working as a Product Designer, but also doing motion graphics projects and 3D Animation while freelancing. At some point I really was looking for a change and I found a job offer for a 3D CAD designer for United Nude, a Dutch footwear brand but with their design studio in Guangzhou, founded and owned by Rem D. Koolhaas (nephew of famous architect Rem Koolhaas<\/a>). That was the start of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Learning how to make a shoe is in some ways a lot like learning to design a car\u2019s bodywork. Because again, you\u2019re working with something very much like a sculpture.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How was it like to work in a new industry and next to a big name in the design world such as Rem D. Koolhaas?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It actually opened a lot of opportunities to both Rem and myself, because this company did things differently from traditional footwear brands. Rem had a very futuristic vision for his products, and I was his first 3D CAD designer, a software that easily allowed us to materialise ideas. We worked on shoes for famous Dutch designer Iris Van Herpen. We did a pair of boots for Lady Gaga when she was promoting her new perfume line. This is 2010 to 2013, back then the shoe industry and manufacturing was still very traditional so we made some strides. <\/span>Traditional footwear designers worked mostly in 2D, from hand sketches to 2D design softwares such as Illustrator. Then they manually work out all the different views that get sent to the factory for production. In the factory, the designs would go through the \u201cSample Room\u201d where they interpret the designers sketches.<\/span><\/p>\n

There was very little 3D happening actually. Occasionally, there will be some weirdo with a hunk of clay molded to create actual 3D shapes. At that time, tech was quite rudimentary. There were barely any 3D printers or 3D scanners. That\u2019s one of the things that helped United Nude to stand out. Because we were early with the technology and then factories started also upgrading and being able to prototype our designs easily. But back then, it was very hard for an individual to do this in their own studio. I think it was at United Nude that I\u2019ve found an all encompassing life passion. Although I don\u2019t think I realised it then.<\/span><\/p>\n

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FUSED Kodo Translucent<\/a>. Photo: Courtesy of FUSED<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Did you find any similarities between footwear and automotive design?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Learning how to make a shoe is in some ways a lot like learning to design a car\u2019s bodywork. Because again, you’re working with something that is very much like a sculpture. Only that it also has to work with consumers and with the human body. It\u2019s a much smaller scale than a car and it requires a much smaller team because there are a lot less parts to a shoe. No engine, no electronics. It\u2019s a relatively simple product to design in a way and as a single designer you can be able to create a traditional shoe, as they have been doing for many centuries.<\/span><\/p>\n

You also lived in Singapore. How did that come to be?<\/b><\/h3>\n

After 3 years working in the same environment, I felt I needed a change and that\u2019s when I moved to Singapore. I was offered a job working for a brand whose owner also ran a factory that produced Dyson vacuum cleaner parts. This brand was focused on designer kitchenware. It was a bit of a reckoning and it made me understand how deeply passionate I had become about designing shoes. Because while I was the Creative Director of that brand, I was also responsible for managing photoshoots, liaising with publications, handling PR and Marketing, and getting to learn a lot of new skills. I never felt satiated in the same way I did designing shoes. But it did help me to work up my savings so I could invest in the next stage of my life.<\/span><\/p>\n

And then Hong Kong. What motivated you to move there?<\/b><\/h3>\n

I had a friend with a 3D printing background, he had just sold his startup specialising in personalised phone accessories. He was in Hong Kong<\/a>, and I was there at the time too, so we partnered up and put our skills to work. We didn\u2019t have a clear plan, but we knew we wanted to do 3D Printing and footwear. So we went and did that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
At FUSED studio, action figures from futuristic themes are everywhere. Photo: Courtesy of FUSED<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was the first time you found yourself alone with the tools to produce your own shoes. How did that feel?<\/b><\/h3>\n

It was not perfect. Me and my partner actually ended up parting ways after an interesting year in which we both learned a lot. There was the expectation that we would quickly be able to produce shoes ready to market, but this is very hard to accomplish at scale within quality standards and with a very small budget. Meanwhile, I started doing freelance design jobs in Hong Kong as well, and I used to work a lot at a local co-working studio with an actual workshop. They had a 3D printer and I actually started to use the machine a lot on my own, something that hadn\u2019t happened so often yet at that point.<\/span><\/p>\n

I also felt challenged because at that time, there was a company in the US making 3D printed shoes. And in my opinion, they had really mediocre designs. I thought I could do better.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let’s talk more about your brand FUSED<\/a>. Can you describe it in three words?<\/b><\/h3>\n

I\u2019d call it<\/span>\u00a0an eccentric, futuristic experiment.<\/span><\/b>
<\/b>I don’t really follow any trends. I can see what the market does, but I don’t want to make shoes that just appeal to trends. I want to make weird shoes that make use of my skills in 3D. Um, and they need to appeal to me. First of all, my designs need to have a certain level of eccentricity.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Futurism goes back to my childhood when I was reading American comics and watching Japanese anime. Also, all the famous 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s sci-fi blockbusters:\u00a0 Alien, Terminator, all that stuff. I think there’s a whole generation of adults, then children and teenagers, that appreciate this.<\/span><\/p>\n

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FUSED Oki<\/a>. Photo: Courtesy of FUSED<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


<\/span>The experiment comes from a point of view that it\u2019s not a project that has come to full fruition yet, I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m gonna make it. There are 5 brands I know that produce 3D printed footwear. Nowadays, I\u2019m the only one who is still a one-man show. Only one of these brands has reached a global scale and appears to be leading the segment. But the fact that it is an experiment also gives me freedom. I might seem like a starving artist, but I\u2019m able to execute my designs with no constraints to my vision other than my imagination. And in a way, it makes this enterprise immediately sustainable because being experimental keeps production at a small scale generating zero waste.<\/span><\/p>\n

Being experimental keeps production at a small scale generating zero waste, which in itself makes this enterprise immediately sustainable.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nowadays the demand for sustainability increasingly challenges fashion. Are FUSED sustainable shoes?<\/b><\/h3>\n

FUSED<\/a>\u2019s sustainability lies in its small-scale, made-to-order 3D-printed footwear model, which avoids overproduction and waste. Unlike mass-market fashion that overproduces and burns unsold items, each pair is sold directly to customers. The 3D printers use minimal energy compared to traditional textile and footwear production. While the current material (TPE plastic) isn\u2019t perfect, it is used thoughtfully as a mono-material, making recycling possible. Shoes can be returned for reuse, and customer feedback shapes improvements. Future scalability allows local production through distributed 3D printing hubs, reducing shipping impact while keeping production efficient and environmentally conscious. In the future, I can also offset transportation and packaging costs by partnering with local 3D printers around the world that can print and finish and post process designs and send them locally to consumers. Because they are single material products there\u2019s no assembly process, which bypasses the need to use any sort of sweat shops which global brands use. So it\u2019s a very simple, customisable, efficient and hopefully also elegant product that is also economically and environmentally sustainable<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

How far can you go in customizing a shoe for a client? Is it possible to customize shoes to fit each consumer’s feet?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

You can scan someone\u2019s feet and produce a shoe that fits them perfectly. It isn\u2019t something we are currently able to do, but it\u2019s a project I\u2019ve been looking into, and I\u2019m currently working on a solution with a startup. But there’s many things that go into making a shoe comfortable, and perfect fitting isn\u2019t necessarily the most important aspect. Also each consumer will have their own preferences in terms of padding, or shoelaces. Our whole life influences how our feet are shaped and what is required to feel comfortable.<\/span><\/p>\n

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FUSED Imori Mule<\/a>. Photo: Courtesy of FUSED and @squareinchanthro<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What about durability, how long can FUSED shoes last?<\/b><\/h3>\n

<\/b>Let\u2019s put it like this, you can compare them with an entry level pair of Converse All-Stars. If it\u2019s your only pair of shoes and you wear them every day, they will last at least 6 months. If you rotate them with four other pairs of shoes or only wear them occasionally they\u2019ll last as long as any other shoes.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can tell you that, as the last 500 shoes I sold were shipped with a care card inside, that invites people to leave a review and I barely had any negative comments. In fact many of my customers returned and bought more shoes after their first.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each FUSED model goes through hundreds of iterations, and I use them myself for periods, go back home, make changes, and repeat the process. There\u2019s a long development process, and because it\u2019s so easy to make changes, it\u2019s never really over.<\/span><\/p>\n

How has your process evolved over the years, now that you\u2019ve been involved in shoe design for almost 15 years?<\/b><\/h3>\n

So, from that appeal for futuristic worlds from my childhood and teenage years, I felt that the future representations of those comics, anime and movies weren’t always rosy, in fact there was almost always some dystopia going on. But there was a representation of human ingenuity. Every movie has a design department where they think and ideate these concepts, these machines and create products that don\u2019t exist in real life. Even movies like Mad Max, they repurposed a lot of stuff in their production design, but they created a style, right? For me most of my references were always visual, other creatives can have appeal for other stuff, such as music for example.<\/span><\/p>\n

So this still influences how I approach a new design and it\u2019s mostly about the creation or archetypes. There\u2019s this model FUSED Kodo that contains a XXXL shoe lace, and the whole design works around that central concept. Another example is the Kaiju collection. It started with triangles, which in essence go back to the geodesic sphere shape, which gives it a very futuristic look. But then in a comment someone said the shapes reminded them of big teeth, so then it became Godzilla, hence the Kaiju collection, following the big japanese monsters. It also became clear how to create subgenres within the collection by removing the harness or the teeth.<\/span><\/p>\n

What next? Where are you taking your designs?<\/b><\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve been thinking about futuristic cowboy boots. Cowboy boots have such an iconic shape, so I\u2019m finding ways to make an interesting iteration of that icon. I would also love to focus on women\u2019s shoes, which is something I feel I\u2019m not so good at, because in the end I always designed shoes primarily for myself. But women tend to have a greater interest in footwear and in some ways I also find it more interesting to design shoes for them, but also more difficult.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been reached by Backstreet Boys management for their 30 year millennial comeback tour. Their costumes designer got two pairs from us. There\u2019s other artists and performers that also buy from us, but they actually never contact me, they buy them directly from my online shop and I go and figure out who they are later. Sometimes I see my shoes appear on a music video months later. So it would be great to develop that into something that can bring my shoes to a greater audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Backstreet Boys are among various artists wearing FUSED creations. Pictured are the FUSED Meka High<\/a>. Photo: Courtesy of Backstreet Boys<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Can you share a piece of advice to young designers and creatives?<\/b><\/h3>\n

If you want to grow as a designer, focus on creating work that makes people happy, or moves them emotionally. Build a strong portfolio, craft products that surprise, and aim for projects that give people goosebumps. To do this, start by discovering what truly inspires you; let that guide your creative path and shape your unique style. Always remember: your personality as a designer comes from what moves you. Finally, decide whether you thrive best in a structured corporate setting or as an independent creative, both paths have value, but choosing the right one for you will define your growth and success.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

FUSED isn\u2019t about mass production or trends; it\u2019s about exploring how customising a shoe can be done with imagination and sustainability. Producing fewer than a thousand pairs to date, Philippe’s work challenges the traditional footwear market by offering rare pieces that reflect both futurism and craftsmanship. For those wondering where to buy FUSED 3D printed shoes, you can find them here<\/a>. Follow FUSED on Instagram<\/a> to stay up to date with the latest news about the brand.<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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When we met Philippe Holthuizen last March on a media trip through Macau and Hong Kong, the conversation naturally turned to shoes. Not just any footwear, but the radical world of 3D printed shoes. Philippe is the founder of FUSED Footwear, a pioneering label that merges cutting-edge 3D Printing with fearless shoe design. His sculptural … <\/p>\n

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