The sculptural Mojito shoe is the creation of award-winning architect-turned-designer, Julian Hakes. The British innovator says that he happened upon the gravity-defying design while he was trying to figure out which parts of a shoe are necessary to support and protect the foot. By wrapping tracing paper around his own foot and exploring different design options, he realized that a shoe really only needs to support the heel and ball of the foot.
Hakes created an ingenious shoe design made from a single strip of durable and stable carbon fiber that wraps around the foot. Because this strip is reminiscent of the lime spiral found in a mojito cocktail, Hakes came up with the name “Mojito.” Hence, the Mojito shoe was born.
For almost two years, Hakes worked to refine every detail to make this shoe a unique yet comfortably
elegant design. The Mojito has been seen on the runway at London Fashion Week in shows for Swedish fashion designer Ann-Sofie Back and London designer Ada Zanditon. The shoe has also been featured in publications around the world, including Vogue Italia and Elle UK. In 2012, Julian Hakes was awarded “Best Footwear Designer of the Year” by Drapers, a prestigious London fashion magazine, and actress Gwyneth Paltrow contributed a signed pair of her treasured Mojito shoes.
Behind every pair of Mojitos is a Julian Hakes woman. In the words of the designer,
“[The Hakes woman] is metropolitan, confident, and embraces change. She is a leader, not a follower. She enjoys the attention [that] her fashion choices generate. She is fearlessly feminine.” Who wouldn’t want to fit that description?
