Profile: Paweł Jakub Toś – Only Natural Design Competitions

Paweł Jakub Toś

University of Salford

The aim of this shoe collection is to DEVOLVE. The aim of this shoe collection is to DEVOLVE, whereby we return historically and culturally to our use of natural materials and manufacturing, by changing the ingredients list of overused polyamides, PU, polyesters and acrylics, back to wood, leather, metal. The countless multi-plastic pairs of shoes lying in landfill, unable to decompose for centuries, or those that are incinerated and toxic fumes, are an afront to our natural environment. Now: imagine if all those wasted pairs of shoes were made from wood. After someone is done with these shoes, or they are broken, a person could simply bury them in their garden, or a park, or even use as a plant pot; a wooden pair of shoes could decompose underground in only a few years (Adams et al., 2021), versus plastic taking hundreds of years (NOAA, 2026). I wanted to take a different approach and work with the current fashion industry cycle and infiltrate it from the inside, whereby it currently produces millions of shoes every year, so I am not disrupting this cycle noticeably; I am merely making it so that the shoes disappear naturally when disposed of, rather than people able to still find shoes in landfills from 40 years ago. Imagine the current annual shoe cycle, compared with a new shoe industry where every product is made from leather and wood - all of that could be gone in just a few years, following burial, with natural resources returned to the environment, with future shoes made from resources that may have utilised those earlier buried products. And hence, the new cycle is established. No disruptions, just all natural sustainability. As the shoes and soles are solid wood it allows for personal expression such as painting, staining and drawing on the hard surface to personalise the shoe, or even doing extra carving work. References: Adams, M.B., Jurgensen, M., Palik, C., Miller, C. and Page-Dumroese, D. (2021) Wood stake decomposition twenty years after organic matter removal at the Lake States LTSP sites. Forest Ecology and Management, 496, 119456. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program (2026) The Mystery of How Long Until It's Gone. Available at: https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/discover-marine-debris/mystery-how-long-until-it-s-gone (Accessed: 23 June 2026).

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Devolved By Paweł Jakub

Category: Footwear

Competitions: Fashion Competition 2026

My project is called ‘Devolved’ and its about devolving and historically going back with our materials and methodology as innovation took lead and is hurting the environment and humanity. Its along the same lines as ‘clean beauty’ or ‘clean food’ simple, natural ingredients lists, no toxic ingredients and most importantly of all biodegradable. The aim of this shoe collection is to DEVOLVE, whereby we return historically and culturally to our use of natural materials and manufacturing, by changing the ingredients list of overused synthetics, polyamides, PU, polyesters, and acrylics, back to wood, leather and cotton. The countless multi-plastic pairs of shoes are lying in the landfills, unable to decompose for centuries, or those that are incinerated into toxic fumes, are a-front to our environment. Now: imagine if all those wasted pairs of shoes were made from wood. After someone is done with the shoes, or are broken, a person could simply bury them in their garden, park or compost; a wooden pair of shoes could decompose underground only in a few years (Adams et al.,2021), versus plastic taking hundreds of years (NOAA, 2026) I wanted to take a different approach and work with the current fashion industry cycle and infiltrate it from the inside, whereby it currently produces millions if shoes every year, so I am not disrupting this cycle noticeably; I am merely making a small adjustment that the shoes disappear naturally with time when they are disposed of, rather than people able to still find shoes in landfills from 40 years ago. Imagine the current annual shoe cycle, compared with a new shoe industry standard where most if not all shoes are made from natural yarns and wood- all of that could be gone in just a few years, following the burial, with natural resources returned to mother nature, with future shoes made from resources that have been left over from the buried product. Now the new cycle is established, no disruptions just a change of materials thats all. This tiny change to tue shoe industry if followed would have a astronomical impact on the shoe waste in landfills and incineration sites. Also as the shoes and soles are solid wood it also allows for personalisation and customs such as painting, staining/dyeing, carving and wood burning to extend the life of the shoes by up-cycling them. REFERENCES Adams, M.B., Jurgensen, M.,Palik, C., Miller, C. And Page-Dumtoese,D. (2021) Wood stake decomposition twenty years after organic matter removal at the Lake States LTSP sites. Forest Ecology and Management, 496, 119456. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program (2026) The Mystery of How Long Until It's Gone. Available at: https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/discover-marine-debris/mystery-how-long-until-it-s-gone (Accessed: 23 June 2026).