Emerging Designer YAKU Is Creating One-Off "Creature Shoes" That Riff On Familiar Sneakers

APOC Store champions emerging designers, bringing SCRY™ Lab, EGNARTS, Hariskrishnan and now YAKU into the hustle and bustle of the saturated fashion scene. Its roster typically disrupts the norm, and Yaku Stapleton’s eponymous label aims to keep up this momentum with its new “Creature Shoes.”

YAKU’s design philosophy is one that comments and draws upon Afrofuturism, connecting his own identity with a sense of escapism. As such, everything from RPG games like Runescape to Black culture are touched upon, often informing clothes that are expressive and introspective.

With this in mind, the designer now debuts the “Creature Shoes,” which are currently just concepts. Here, YAKU takes a second-hand sneaker and starts to rework the base, before applying scrap pattern paper and cotton jersey scraps that have been dyed a bold shade of neon green.

The result is a sneaker wearing a second skin, with folds of raw-edged fabric creating monstrous shapes all over. It perfectly complements YAKU’s Afrofuturistic fantasy-world study, all while feeling familiar. Perhaps, it’s because a “Swoosh” emblem and “AIR” text can be seen within the puffy formations.

Take a look at YAKU’s “Creature Shoes” above, and find out more on APOC Store’s Instagram account.

Elsewhere, check out the latest issue of Sole Mates.