About the project
After completing a Masters degree at the Royal College of Art in London, Darja Malesic spent ten years working in Italy as a fashion designer for luxury fashion brands. In 2018 she opened her own design studio in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and founded the ethical lifestyle brand Flowe Craft. Collaborating directly with Slovenian artisans specialised in wickerwork, Darja creates contemporary products that have earned Design Excellence awards and have been shown at several international exhibitions.
The Corn Dolly project proposes a modular footwear series that aims to promote biodiversity and handicrafts, with a mission to support the ”Right to (Self-)Repair” concept.
Corn Dolly Shoes fuses traditional wicker craft with modern circular design to create a brand new concept in contemporary footwear.
It uses modular design to enable the replacement of individual damaged elements, which can then be composted or recycled.
This concept challenges the throw-away culture of mass produced footwear. Corn Dolly Shoes are designed to be repaired. It makes fixes that are user-friendly, with affordable replacement parts.
The shoes consist of 3 elements:
– Upper material: artisanal hand woven 100 % natural corn leaves (agricultural waste material)
– Sole: Vibram® rubber unit hand stitched to the upper (no glue needed)
– Accessories: laces and elastic
The project also supports biodiversity by using corn leaves from an indigenous Slovenian (non-GM) maize, called ”Trdinka”.