Decathlon’s team of 3D designers organised a workshop for Arsutoria students to share the company’s best practices and train the next generation.
There is a moment, and this is it, when specialised footwear technologies join forces with the software that has revolutionised the world of cinema and video games to rethink the processes of design review, marketing, B2B sales and consumer engagement.
Once upon a time, there was footwear CAD software, created to replace pantographs and use computers to develop sizes. For many years, this software was used to digitise cardboard models and prepare files to be sent to cutting tables.
Then came ICad3D+, the software developed by Inescop and marketed internationally by RED21. Today, it has almost 1,000 licences installed worldwide. The programme was created 20 years ago by the same team of developers who wrote EasyLast, the undisputed industry-leading software for technical last design, marketed by NewLast.
“Having taught for years that ‘the last comes first’, it seemed unreal to us that Inescop, after developing the software for lasts, had decided to create software for 3D design and technical development of footwear“, says Matteo Pasca, director of Arsutoria School. “We decided to offer our help, as we had done with Shoemaster, Crispin and RomansCAD. Our technical director, Paolo Marenghi, has dedicated hundreds of hours over the years to working with the Elda development team.”
ICad3d+ is now the basis of Arsutoria School’s 3D footwear design course, which is used to create 3D models. “Having teachers who are experts in this tool has allowed us to collaborate with large companies that have started using it and to place our students in some of the most important brands“, continues Pasca. “This happened with Ernesto Maldonado who, after graduating from Arsutoria, found a job in France in Decathlon’s 3D design team. After a few years, Ernesto contacted us and proposed organising a project together with our students.”
The Adobe Substance team had just completed an educational project with the French school Creapole, in collaboration with the Swiss shoe brand On Running. Arsutoria’s teachers worked with Alwyn Hunt, Adobe’s director of partnerships, and Ernesto’s team to find a way to involve students from the 3D footwear design course. The result was a workshop to create digital twins of Decathlon’s Kiprun brand running shoes.
“However, we needed to upgrade our skills in using Adobe Substance software“, points out Valentino Parlato, coordinator of the 3D footwear design course at Arsutoria, “so we contacted an absolute guru: 3D artist Federico Abram, who has worked for international film studios on special effects for films such as Captain America. Federico helped us create a specific training programme for using this software in the footwear industry. Adobe went even further and provided Emily Bisset, evangelist for Substance software.“
FOR 3D DESIGN COURSES.
During the workshop, Ernesto Maldonado and his team leader Yoann Rousseau, Footwear Digital Chain Project Leader at Decathlon France, guided Arsutoria students step by step through the creation of extraordinary quality 3D designs, alternating between ICad3d+, Substance Painter and Blender.
It is not yet possible to show the results of the project because the workshop was organised around Kiprun models that will be launched on the market by the end of 2025. So, if you want to know more, stay tuned.