Company:
School Team Project
Year:
2021
Duration:
4 Months
Overview
KHOROS is a bold reimagining of ballet equipment, born from the desire to treat dancers as both artists and athletes. With my groupmate, we wanted to challenge the romanticized yet rigid traditions of classical ballet, and instead, focus on performance, physical well-being, and modern identity. Ballet has long masked its physical toll behind grace and elegance. KHOROS aims to reveal and relieve it, with a pointe shoe that combines the expressive power of costume with the high-performance standards of sports gear.
Brief
Despite being one of the most physically demanding disciplines, ballet continues to overlook the athletic needs of its dancers. Common issues like pain, injury, and nutritional imbalance are often ignored in favor of aesthetic and artistic perfection. Our mission was to rethink the dancer’s entire ecosystem by designing dancing equipments that prioritize safety, comfort, and durability. This included in-depth research: dancer interviews, podiatrist consultations, material studies with engineers, and 3D prototyping - all in service of creating equipment that empowers, supports, and evolves with the dancer.
As one of two lead designers in a team of four, I contributed to the design strategy, service storytelling, eco-design research, and prototyping while also guiding the team to balance skill-sharing with individual learning goals.
Proposal
We designed KHOROS: a new-generation ballet pointe created for NIKE, offering comfort, performance, and longevity. The shoe features a customizable and repairable system composed of detachable, scan-based components tailored to each dancer's foot structure. Inspired by ballet costume design, KHOROS brings personality to each pair while respecting the demands of training.
Today, professional ballerinas can use up to 20 pairs of pointe shoes per month. KHOROS drastically reduces this waste by offering a modular and stronger design. Its sustainable materials (from recyclable TPU to biodegradable lyocell) extend the life of the product and reduce waste. Blending technology and tradition, KHOROS redefines the dancer’s path with a new practice culture where dancers are free to move, create, and perform without compromise.
