Great architect Dame Zaha Hadid recently disappeared leaving a vast heritage which goes beyond architecture and includes experimentation with accessory and footwear design.

The shoes designed by Zaha Hadid Architects for Melissa in 2009. Collection Mude - Museu do Design e da Moda, all rights reserved.

MUDE – Museu do Design e da Moda holds in its collection a pair of the shoes Zaha Hadid’s studio designed in collaboration with the Brazilian shoe brand Melissa in 2009. Inspired by the organic contours of the body, the shoes express the studio’s characteristic sense of fluidity through their seamless, liquid shape, referencing Hadid’s signature buildings.

The packaging for the shoes designed by Zaha Hadid Architects for Melissa in 2009, designed by the Studio as well. Collection Mude - Museu do Design e da Moda, all rights reserved.

Developed through advanced digital modeling techniques and employing plastic injection moulds and rapid prototyping technologies, these shoes are as a result a testimony of the collaboration of two great innovators in the world of architecture and design. The signature aesthetic of the studio was also translated in the form and details of the packaging for the shoes.

Hadid, the first woman to receive the Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal in recognition of her work, set up her own studio Zaha Hadid Architects in 1979. Over her long and prolific career, she was commissioned many buildings all over the world, the Vitra Fire Station in Weil am Rhein in Germany, the MAXXI Museum in Rome, the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London, the Guangzhou Opera House in China and London Aquatics Centre in Stratford, used for the Olympics and Paralympics. Her experience with fashion does not limit to footwear design. Hadid and her studio collaborated also with Atelier Swarowski, creating a collection of beautiful crystal jewelry, and with Louis Vuitton, reinventing the iconic bucket bag.