House · Z-Vibe Footwear
Z-Caterpillar Pulse Fern — an olive utility shoe on a pulsing pod sole. The Z-Glide Wheel System™ is fitted: lock the wheels flush with the sole to walk, or deploy them below the sole to roll, with Z-Beam™ lighting at the toe. Bogolan mudcloth is placed as a considered construction detail, never as surface print, and the aged-gold Z-Closure™ hardware signs the shoe.
Choose how you inspect it.
Visual experience—color and fit may vary.
Seven views
Z-Motion™ film slot
No film cut for Z-Caterpillar Pulse Fern yet. The slot is reserved on the plate.
Commission the film →Z-Grip™ Fern Cutunit ZG-8681
Cut for this style alone — no other shoe in the house carries this sole.
Reference specification for design review — not a manufacturing document.
4 wheels · lockable · Z-Beam™
Twin retractable axles, forefoot and heel, recessed into the midsole cavity.
Guided demonstration · wheel collar
Step 1 of 3
Step 1 · Lock
Wheels fully retracted into the chassis, level with the bottom of the sole. The collar is pinned — the shoe walks like any luxury sneaker.
Collar pinned · wheels immobilised · wheel drop 0 mm
Z-Beam™ lighting
A low ivory running light traces the toe cap — presence, not glare.
Heel-cell battery with step-harvest trickle charge · USB-C service port under the medial collar
Z-Glide Wheel System™ is a house design specification shown for review. Figures describe the intended engineering, not a certified production part.
Z-Caterpillar Pulse Fern — an olive utility shoe on a pulsing pod sole. The Z-Glide Wheel System™ is fitted: lock the wheels flush with the sole to walk, or deploy them below the sole to roll, with Z-Beam™ lighting at the toe. Bogolan mudcloth is placed as a considered construction detail, never as surface print, and the aged-gold Z-Closure™ hardware signs the shoe.
Made up in House leather and technical textile upper, woven Bogolan mudcloth panel, Z-Glide™ retractable wheel chassis with Lock / Walk / Roll collar, Z-Beam™ toe lighting module, aged-gold Z-Closure™ hardware. Z-Grip™ Fern Cut (ZG-8681) on the Z-Grip™ lugged rubber chassis, hexagonal mudcloth-lattice lugs mirroring the Bogolan grid, rounded volume last with a deep instep for thick socks, stack 40 mm heel / 26 mm forefoot, 14 mm drop, laced in heavy Bogolan rope lace, brass-crimped tips, diamond Z at the lateral wall, Z-VIBE at the medial wall.
Registered in 3 colourways: Olive Ash, Forest Cypress, Aged Gold.
Sized EU 39–EU 46 across the run.
Filed under Z-Vibe Footwear · Z-Caterpillar™ as Men suits, carried on the House · Z-Vibe Footwear line.
Move in your own rhythm.
Select a color to update all 7 views.
3 colourways
SKU ZV-Z-CATERPILLAR-Z-CATERPILLAR-PULSE-FERN
Mudcloth in burgundy & black — light tape on deep cloth.
24mm tape · 56mm motif repeat · house proportion
Mudcloth tab stitched at the tongue centre.
Story behind the design
Sirablen mudcloth in burgundy & black, worked into the crop neck band, left cuff, front placket.
burgundy & black
ZB-SIRA-BUR-121
Bogolanfini begins as cotton mudcloth backed with a fine leather skiver so it can take a lace and a lasting pull. It is dyed with a wolo bark tannin with iron-rich mud drawn from the Niger banks — the pattern is not printed on, it is drawn in mud and then the ground around it is lifted away. On this piece the mudcloth meets house leather and technical textile upper.
The tape carries a broken line stepping across the ground cloth. In the Bamana reading, Sirablen is the road home — steadiness on a long journey. Z-Vibe keeps the motif at heritage scale rather than shrinking it into a logo pattern, so the hand of the maker stays legible on the finished shoe.
Mudcloth is placed on construction points, never scattered as decoration: crop neck band, left cuff, front placket. These are the lines the eye already follows on this silhouette, so the cloth reads as structure — an edge, a facing, a seam — and holds its meaning at three metres and at arm's length alike.
Each length is hand-turned and pick-stitched in silk thread, then pressed over a ham so the tape sits flat, not glued. Tape width and motif repeat are cut to the size band, so a petite run and an extended run carry the same proportion rather than the same measurement.
African heritage, global luxury, future design: the mudcloth is set against European finishing and the aged-gold Z-Closure™ mark. Nothing is erased on either side — the meeting is the design. Different Roots. One Human Story.
Care · Air the piece after wear and store folded with the tape inside. Steam from the reverse — a hot iron directly on the mudcloth flattens the weave.
Each step below reflects work that actually exists for this piece. Refinement is a design process — it does not imply the piece is production-released.
Owner-approved design board intakeComplete
The signed design board was registered as the source of truth; silhouette, Bogolan placement and hardware were locked from it.
Z-Sole Architecture™ assignmentComplete
Sole identity resolved for this style — Z-Grip™ Fern Cut (ZG-6497) on the Z-Grip™ lugged rubber chassis, hexagonal mudcloth-lattice lugs mirroring the Bogolan grid, low-slung court last with a flattened tread plane, stack 40 mm heel / 26 mm forefoot, 14 mm drop, laced in twin-tone Bogolan flat tape, obsidian on ivory, aged-gold aglets, diamond Z at the lateral wall, Z-VIBE at the medial wall. Tread, last and stack height were made unique to the shoe rather than shared across the register.
Bogolan signature verificationComplete
Mudcloth was confirmed as a construction detail (laces, panel, tongue or heel band) and not surface print, and the aged-gold Z-Closure™ mark was placed.
Z-Studio 4K refinement passComplete
Studio refinement rebuilt the shoe at 4K: cleaner last geometry, corrected proportions and true material rendering on the released angles.
Seven-view studio captureIn progress
1 of 7 angles are distinct photographs; 02 Left, 03 Right, 04 Back, 05 Interior, 06 Inner tags, 07 Fabric detail still read the design board.
Cut in House leather and technical textile upper with woven Bogolan mudcloth panel, Z-Glide™ retractable wheel chassis with Lock / Walk / Roll collar, Z-Beam™ toe lighting module, aged-gold Z-Closure™ hardware. Z-Grip™ Fern Cut (ZG-8681) on the Z-Grip™ lugged rubber chassis, hexagonal mudcloth-lattice lugs mirroring the Bogolan grid, rounded volume last with a deep instep for thick socks, stack 40 mm heel / 26 mm forefoot, 14 mm drop, laced in heavy Bogolan rope lace, brass-crimped tips, diamond Z at the lateral wall, Z-VIBE at the medial wall. Shaped through the waist, tasteful length, comfortable sleeve rotation.
Bogolan is placed with intention \u2014 crop neck band, left cuff, front placket \u2014 a construction language rather than decoration.
Z-signature buttons at the Z zip pull at the heel counter and a micro-Z at the tongue, finished under Global Heritage Fusion\u2122: African heritage in dialogue with global tailoring and future design.
Thrive in motion.
Bogolan SignatureIn development
Reference study · not yet for sale
This piece is documented from an atelier design board. It is shown for reference only while the house completes its photography, sizing and release. Purchase, pricing and availability appear here once the owner approves the finished piece.
Readiness · 1 of 8 complete
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