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| Grounds x Undercover |
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| Grounds x Undercover |
Co-founded in 2019 under the creative direction of renowned Japanese fashion
designer Mikio Sakabe, Grounds explores what it means to walk in the future.
As we’ve followed the brand over the years, we visited their showroom during
Paris Men’s Fashion Week this past June. Built around the concept of 'shoes
that change your relationship with gravity', Grounds blends avant-garde
design with technical precision, creating footwear that challenges both how
shoes are worn and what they represent in fashion.
Mikio Sakabe, known for his avant-garde yet wearable creations, first
studied mathematics and only discovered fashion later, while attending Art
school. He went on to study at ESMOD in Paris and the Royal Academy of Fine
Arts in Antwerp. In 2006, he won a fashion award in Trieste.
True to Sakabe's ethos, gravity at Grounds is more than a force of nature,
it's also a metaphor. Grounds resists getting pulled into trends and
mass-produced looks, choosing instead to 'break new ground', through
imaginative silhouettes and high-tech futuristic contours. At the heart of
each design is the brand's signature 'Leap Gravity' sole, exaggerated,
bubble-like platforms that appear to float the wearer above the ground.
These sculptural, cloud-formed bases contrast with minimal, understated
uppers, creating an unexpected combination that breaks away from fashion
limits. Influenced by Tokyo's subcultures, especially how underground styles
slowly influence mainstream fashion, Grounds always experiments with new
shapes, materials, and ideas in its designs. The result is footwear that's
not only visually striking but philosophically resonant, shoes that lift you
physically and creatively. Grounds had collaborations with Undercover,
Walter van Beierendonck, Heaven Tanudiredja, 8on8 e.g.
About the brand:
Leap Gravity
Through shoes, we will bring about a new way of communication with the
earth. Through shoes, we will make people more aware of the time-gravity
link and make them dream of their connection to higher dimensions. By making
a shoe where the sole-itself is connected to the earth, with a shape fit for
going for a stroll, the burden of walking is lifted. The transparent soles
of the shoes will have you feeling as if you are walking on air. With a
shape that delivers a punch, feel your consciousness flow through the soles
of your shoes. Pursuing weightlessness and losing consciousness of what's on
your feet is not a thing of the future. By utilizing shape, we want to
evolve the consciousness of humans and gravity through comfort.
Lookbook pics: courtesy of the brand
stylist - DANIELLE EMERSON photographer - FISH ZHANG videographer -
UDOCORG hair & make up - SHISEIDO model - MONA KAWASAKI, LU HONGFEI,
MOMOE OKAMOTO
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