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The Cryptide 3D Printed Sneaker

Posted: February 18, 2022
The Cryptide 3D Printed Sneaker

Five-finger shoes meet...um...a stone man's toenails and some truck tire treads?...in The Cryptide, a 3D printed sneaker created by German designer and architect Stephan Henrich, in collaboration with Swiss 3D printer manufacturer Sintratec.

As bizarre as The Cryptide is in appearance, the sneaker is deliberately so. Sintratec explains the "creature-like footwear" was inspired by cryptids (not the crypto tide), or the group of mythical beasts some people believe in, but whose existence has never been proven. Bigfoot. Chupacabra. The Loch Ness Monster.

Designed especially for laser sintering on the Sintratec S2 System, The Cryptide sneaker is made of flexible TPE elastomer material. Its chunky, formidable sole has an open design that reminds me of Substance Jewelry's Dune Rings, and pointedly contrasts with the shoe's barely-there mesh upper that's "not much more than a sock."

Henrich intends The Cryptide to wear comfortably and with precise ergonomics, but, more importantly, to allow wearers to leave giant footprints wherever they go like a cryptid would do.

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