“Allow me to reintroduce myself”
What Eugène Riconneaus did next.
Known within the industry for his ‘savoir-faire’ in shoemaking, and his embrace of art meeting shoe design, after a brief hiatus from the public eye, Eugène Riconneaus remerges with the new chapter for ER Soulier. Heavily influenced by skateboarding culture and the ocean environment from his upbringing as a son of a fisherman, Eugène Riconneaus has developed a sneaker made from marine litter. Created from bio-marine ocean plastic waste and innovative techniques, such as new pigments, the sneakers present a vision of the footwear of tomorrow.
With the objective to slow-down seasonal products, ER will only look to release new updates, not seasons; new collections for ER means new innovations for the brand and environment. All designed through a modern lens to develop a silhouette that is a “reflection of a community, the eternal youth, my skateboarding crew” Eugène has created their dream show. Marrying the stylish design with functionality, each shoe offers the wearer good grip, breathability, and comfort with each pair.
Although the search for ER’s new materials and design was an 18month journey of research, Eugène Riconneaus states that this project started back in his childhood bedroom at 12 years of age, with walls plastered in posters showcasing the world of skateboarding and sketches of footwear, where his training began. Rocked by skateboard and underground culture, he rose to fame at only 19 years old. With no financial support from outside, he launched his eponymous shoe brand which resulted in a long record of collaborations with not only most prestigious stores as Colette and Supreme, but also with cross-over projects of Warner Bros. (Batman), art projects with Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
It was during lockdown when spending more time in his hometown, Eugène became more conscious of the wave of litter in the ocean and its surfacing on to the beaches, which ignited ER’s new focus when developing product; This new creation of footwear will be influenced by the invisible (materials) and not just design. Riconneaus states
“In my mind, the new creativity of tomorrow is about what isn’t visible.”
Turning his creative studio into a laboratory, switching his colour search to material research, Eugène Riconneaus focused on the invisible elements of this new sneaker. Reimagining the potential of items such as fishnets, seaweed and seafood wastes, Riconneaus has constructed the sneakers to be composed of 78.5% recycled elements while also utilising sleepstock leather, natural cork and recycled rubber.“Sea based activities represent 50% of the ocean pollution. I see this material as ready-made to give a proposition to others and influence action for the ocean.
The idea is to create the demand that appreciates and cherishes marine litter products: from fishnets, plastics to oyster farms’ waste and algae” explains Eugène Riconneaus.
One of his more visible creations is the striking blue, an in house produced pigment, witnessed on all soles as a signature element for ER as it launches. When discussing his approach to producing this Eugene states “I’ve created my own material that could be any colour; I start in blue.”
Launching this Summer, ER have a pre-order campaign which will go live on June 20th. The objective of this is to grow the brand’s efforts to utilise marine waste, supporting the reduction of ocean pollution, while also achieving their targets for carbon neutrality, creation of new materials, and expand the variety of product silhouettes available to create an appetite for product that supports our natural environment.
