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01 Front — Z-Knot Derby — Unisex — House · Z-Vibe Footwear seven-view specification plate; showing 01 Front, 02 Left, 03 Right, 04 Back, 05 Interior, 06 Inner tags, 07 Fabric detail; made in House leather and suede upper with belt-strap architecture, woven Bogolan mudcloth trim panel, Bogolan mudcloth lacing, aged-gold Z-Closure™ buckle hardware, stacked lug outsole. Z-Grip™ Derby Cut (ZG-8032) on the Z-Grip™ lugged rubber chassis, raked sawtooth blades set on a 12° forward rake, sculpted almond last with a lifted toe spring, stack 28 mm heel / 18 mm forefoot, 10 mm drop, laced in heavy Bogolan rope lace, brass-crimped tips, diamond Z at the lateral wall, Z-VIBE at the medial wall; shown in Onyx Black, Sand Dune.

01 Front · Studio photograph

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House · Z-Vibe Footwear

Z-Knot Derby — Unisex

Z-Knot Derby — a derby closed with a hand-knotted Bogolan cord over a mudcloth facing. Bogolan mudcloth is placed as a considered construction detail, the laces are Bogolan cord, and the aged-gold Z-Closure™ hardware signs the shoe. Shown on the approved series design board — individual studio plates are in production.

The seven views

01 Front of Z-Knot Derby — Unisex. Straight-on front: toe shape, lace path and the placement of the Bogolan mudcloth panel.

01 Front — Straight-on front: toe shape, lace path and the placement of the Bogolan mudcloth panel.

View 1 of 7: 01 Front of Z-Knot Derby — Unisex. Straight-on front: toe shape, lace path and the placement of the Bogolan mudcloth panel.

IP visibility

3 public · 2 partial · 3 protected

The House publishes imagery and design narrative. Construction files, refinement records and production data remain confidential House IP.

  • Studio imagery · seven viewsPartly viewable

    1 of 7 views released as published photography; remaining angles read the design board.

  • House name & collection linePublicly viewable

    “Z-Knot Derby — Unisex” is published under House · Z-Vibe Footwear as a protected House mark.

  • Design story & Bogolan placementPublicly viewable

    The narrative and where the Bogolan signature sits are told openly; the artwork files are not.

  • Material & colourway registerPublicly viewable

    Fabric family and heritage colourways are stated; mill sourcing and finishing recipes are withheld.

  • Sole architecture & Z-Closure™ hardwarePartly viewable

    Tread identity, stack height and hardware naming are public; tooling geometry and moulds are protected.

  • Tech pack · DXF / CAD / pattern gradingProtected · vault only

    Held in the Innovation Vault behind authenticated, short-lived signed links. Never published.

  • Z-Studio refinement record & promptsProtected · vault only

    Refinement pipeline settings and prompt history are internal studio IP.

  • Factory, sampling & cost recordProtected · vault only

    Supplier identities, sampling stage and costing stay confidential to the House.

Heritage colourways

  • Onyx Black
  • Sand Dune

In 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

  • Seven approved image views (01 Front, 02 Left, 03 Right, 04 Back, 05 Interior, 06 Inner tags, 07 Fabric detail)1 of 7 angles shot. The rest are read from the design board.
  • Approved primary assetDesign board in use — reference only, awaiting owner approval.
  • Product name and descriptionName and description written.
  • SKU and variant / colour mappingNo registered SKU for this piece yet.
  • Approved retail priceNo approved price — nothing is displayed.
  • Real inventoryNo connected stock feed — quantities are not shown.
  • Fulfilment and return policyFulfilment and returns not attached yet.
  • Owner approval to publishAwaiting explicit owner release.

👁️ 7-View master production board

  1. 1. Apparel (Chest) — High-density metallic gold embroidery over premium cotton

    Premium hoodies, shirts and tracksuits: 3D puff embroidery in metallic gold thread, raised off the fabric so the emblem catches the light.

  2. 2. Apparel (Sleeve) — Seamless matte black silicone heat-seal print on the right cuff

    Minimalist accent at the upper centre-back neck or right wrist, executed in high-frequency TPU printing for a durable rubberised texture.

  3. 3. Footwear (Lateral) — Large aerodynamic gold swoosh-Z stitched on the outer leather

    A separate piece of metallic gold leather or reflective vinyl cut and stitched onto the outer side panel with ultra-tight matching thread lines.

  4. 4. Footwear (Heel) — Solid-cast 3D zinc-alloy metal badge bolted to the counter

    Mould-forged zinc-alloy emblem in polished mirror-gold plating, clipped securely through the leather heel tab.

  5. 5. Footwear (Insole) — Premium gold-foil hot stamp pressed into the leather liner

    Centred under the heel inside the shoe, heavy-pressure foil hot-stamped into ultra-soft leather or suede so it will not rub off with wear.

  6. 6. Fragrance (Bottle) — Raised metallic curved sticker flush on the stiletto glass

    Electroplated nickel transfer label formed around the glass shoe curve, matched to the gold stiletto heel.

  7. 7. Event tent (Canopy) — Flat vector gold gradient printed on 600D canopy fabric

    Single-path high-contrast vector for trade-show tents and tables, scaled across 3×6m dye-sublimation panels with zero pixelation.

Fabric

House leather and suede upper with belt-strap architecture, woven Bogolan mudcloth trim panel, Bogolan mudcloth lacing, aged-gold Z-Closure™ buckle hardware, stacked lug outsole. Z-Grip™ Derby Cut (ZG-8032) on the Z-Grip™ lugged rubber chassis, raked sawtooth blades set on a 12° forward rake, sculpted almond last with a lifted toe spring, stack 28 mm heel / 18 mm forefoot, 10 mm drop, laced in heavy Bogolan rope lace, brass-crimped tips, diamond Z at the lateral wall, Z-VIBE at the medial wall

Story behind the design

The Bogolan story

Kere mudcloth in indigo & ivory, worked into the signature band.

indigo & ivory

ZB-KERE-IND-708

  • signature band

The cloth

Bogolanfini begins as hand-woven cotton strip cloth, joined selvedge to selvedge before it ever meets the dye. 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 suede upper with belt-strap architecture, woven bogolan mudcloth trim panel, bogolan mudcloth lacing, aged-gold z-closure™ buckle hardware, stacked lug outsole. z-grip™ derby cut (zg-8032) on the z-grip™ lugged rubber chassis, raked sawtooth blades set on a 12° forward rake, sculpted almond last with a lifted toe spring, stack 28 mm heel / 18 mm forefoot, 10 mm drop, laced in heavy bogolan rope lace, brass-crimped tips, diamond z at the lateral wall, z-vibe at the medial wall.

The motif — Kere

The tape carries tight lattice with hand-dotted corners. In the Bamana reading, Kere is the fence weave — protection of what has been built. 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 piece.

Why it sits where it sits

Mudcloth is placed on construction points, never scattered as decoration: signature band. 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.

The hand-work

Each length is cut on the straight grain, mitred at the corners and felled by hand so no raw edge is left inside. 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.

Global Heritage Fusion™

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.

Refinement provenance

Z-Studio refined · 1/7 views shot

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.

  1. 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.

  2. Z-Sole Architecture™ assignmentComplete

    Sole identity resolved for this style — Z-Grip™ Unisex Cut (ZG-1404) on the Z-Grip™ lugged rubber chassis, interlocking arrowhead cleats angled outward for lateral bite, low-slung court last with a flattened tread plane, stack 18 mm heel / 16 mm forefoot, 2 mm drop, laced in round braided Bogolan cord over a waxed core, 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

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