Renowned Austrian graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister is taking his signature data visualizations somewhere they rarely venture: directly onto the human foot. In a unique collaboration with Frankfurt-based sustainable footwear brand ekn, Sagmeister has developed a data-driven sneaker and a leather boot that translate complex global statistics regarding renewable electricity generation and street homelessness into tangible, wearable design objects.
The two distinctive footwear designs serve as physical companions to his upcoming solo exhibition, Finally, Something Good., which is scheduled to open at La Gaîté Lyrique in Paris on October 15, 2026. Rather than simply reproducing existing 2D artworks or prints onto the leather and fabric of a shoe, this innovative partnership bridges the distinct worlds of high-level graphic information design and traditional European shoemaking.
Reflecting on the unusual partnership, ekn founder Noel Klein-Reesink noted in an exclusive interview that the project was driven by a shared curiosity. It was about discovering what happens when Stefan’s distinct analytical and visual way of thinking encounters the brand’s hands-on manufacturing methods.
For Sagmeister, the primary allure of the collaboration lies in the unprecedented opportunity to reach a diverse audience far beyond the traditional, often insular confines of the exhibition space. A painting hanging quietly inside a gallery or a museum is typically seen only by people who have consciously decided to step inside and look. A shoe, by contrast, moves dynamically through the world, seen on the street, in public transit, and in everyday environments by people who decided nothing of the sort.
This footwear initiative extends Sagmeister’s ongoing, multi-year exploration of long-term social progress and human development through visualized data. He has previously presented these themes across historic paintings, large-scale public installations, and various everyday objects. Klein-Reesink sees a deeply natural connection between this philosophy and the foundational ethos of independent footwear design. What has always interested the brand about Sagmeister’s work is his unique ability to distill complex, abstract information into something immediate, striking, and visual. Through this collaboration, the artwork no longer has to wait patiently for visitors to arrive at a museum; it can actively catch a passerby’s attention on their morning commute or a trip to the supermarket.
Renewable Energy and Homelessness Shape Two Distinct Shoe Designs
The first footwear model in the collaboration is titled Bring It On. It is a colorful, expressive suede sneaker designed to visualize worldwide renewable electricity generation between 1965 and 2022, encompassing data from hydro, wind, solar, and other clean power sources. The rising statistical figures are ingeniously transformed into a dynamic, vibrant graphic composition across the shoe’s upper panels, while the complete, underlying dataset is printed directly onto the footbed.
With Bring It On, the abstract shapes and bold colors naturally became an integral part of the overall aesthetic design of the sneaker, grounding the macro-data in everyday fashion. For Sagmeister, the subject matter carries immense personal and global significance. While public discourse is currently dominated by relentless conversations surrounding artificial intelligence, the designer finds the quiet, steady improvements in renewable electricity generation to be far more consequential for humanity’s future. He points to the immense possibilities that cheaper, more accessible renewable energy could unlock on a global scale, ranging from large-scale vertical farming and water desalination to effective carbon capture technologies.
The second model in the series, Like a Complete Unknown, tackles a much more uncomfortable and somber subject, translating it into the form of a refined, cream-colored leather boot. Its intricate embroidered graphics visualize reported street homelessness across six different countries, drawing its empirical foundation directly from the OECD Affordable Housing Database. The figures starkly illustrate global disparities, ranging from 76 individuals living rough on the street or in public spaces per 100,000 inhabitants in the United States, down to 46 in Germany, 16 in the United Kingdom, eight in France, five in Mexico, and a mere two in Japan.
For this model, the data-driven graphic is embroidered directly into the premium leather upper. Sagmeister is refreshingly direct about the inherent limitations of making such international comparisons: the numbers are fundamentally imperfect. Because different countries rely on varying national definitions, legal frameworks, and data collection methodologies, the figures cannot be treated as a flawless, exact measure of relative homelessness. Yet, the designer argues that imperfect statistics can still serve a vital purpose by opening up critical public discussions that might otherwise remain entirely abstract or ignored.
Ekn Brings Sagmeister’s Complex Graphics to Functional Footwear
Translating abstract statistical graphics into functional, durable footwear required far more than simply choosing where to place a colorful motif on a blank canvas. Both models are built upon existing, well-tested ekn silhouettes, thoughtfully adapting the original visualizations to fit the complex curves, overlapping panels, and structural integrity of each shoe model.
The Bring It On sneaker utilizes premium chrome-free tanned suede, while the Like a Complete Unknown boot combines chrome-free tanned smooth leather with precise, detailed embroidery. According to Klein-Reesink, the development process involved a rigorous series of exchanges and iterations with specialized embroidery workshops and manufacturing partners located in Portugal. It was an intensely practical and hands-on process where the team would produce a physical sample, analyze the actual shoe, adjust a minor detail, and try again. The central design challenge was preserving Sagmeister’s uncompromising visual language without ever losing sight of the essential requirement that the finished objects must still function exceptionally well as comfortable, everyday footwear.
This deliberate intersection of luxury pricing and heavy social themes also raises a question that neither partner has any interest in avoiding: what does it genuinely mean to commercialize a luxury-priced boot that carries data concerning homelessness? Sagmeister openly acknowledges this tension, noting that there is something inherently awkward about a 350-euro boot that carries homelessness statistics, and he does not believe that a simple corporate donation magically makes that awkwardness go away.
The boot retails for 350 euros, while the sneaker is priced at 300 euros. To actively connect the products to real-world action, ten percent of the retail price from each sale will directly support organizations working within the respective fields. Specifically, 35 euros from each boot sold will go to the Coalition for the Homeless in New York, and 30 euros from each sneaker will support Future Cleantech Architects in Germany. While these financial contributions do not completely resolve the inherent friction between luxury consumer products and their somber social messages, they form a concrete part of an attempt to anchor the visualized information in tangible action beyond the exhibition walls.
Ekn Footwear Embraces Sustainable Made-to-Order Production
To align with their shared environmental and ethical commitments, both models are meticulously handmade at a specialized footwear workshop in Portugal and will be produced through a limited pre-order system rather than being mass-manufactured in advance. Orders for the collaboration will be accepted exclusively from October 14 to November 15, 2026, with global delivery scheduled for January 2027. Available across standard European sizes 36 to 46, the shoes will enter production strictly according to actual consumer demand, an intentional operational approach designed to drastically minimize unsold inventory and waste.
The main advantage of this model is very straightforward for the brand: after the pre-order period concludes, the workshop knows precisely how many pairs people actually want and need to buy. For Klein-Reesink, who established ekn in 2015, this production model reflects a much broader, holistic philosophy of responsible manufacturing. True sustainability is never just about choosing a better material; it encompasses the entirety of the production methods, the durability of the final product, and the restraint exercised in manufacturing quantities.
Ultimately, the project loops back to a relatively simple, human proposition: complex information becomes significantly more accessible when it integrates seamlessly into everyday life. Sagmeister’s exhibition Finally, Something Good. examines the vast psychological distance between prevailing public perceptions of the world and measurable, long-term developments over time, utilizing visual culture to question the overwhelmingly negative narratives that dominate contemporary media.
These two shoes carry that ongoing investigation directly onto the pavement, where an intriguing graphic might initially capture a passerby’s attention solely through its vibrant colors or unusual composition before revealing the deeper meaning underneath. For ekn, good design also means crafting something properly and building it to last for years to come. Whether wearers ultimately end up deep in conversation about renewable energy, structural homelessness, or simply admiring their new footwear remains entirely open. For Sagmeister, that ongoing exchange is the true core of the piece.
