The Vibe :
⊹ A brutalist platform sandal with its own sound-reactive LED light show.
⊹ The built-in VU meter flashes along with music and ambient noise.
⊹ Bluetooth controls let the wearer switch colors straight from an app.
⊹ An 8.7-inch heel makes subtlety completely irrelevant.
United Nude looked at the average black platform sandal and apparently decided it needed Bluetooth, flashing lights and the energy of a nightclub speaker stack. Enter the limited-edition EQ Sandal, a towering tribute to 1980s hi-fi equipment built around a sound-reactive LED VU meter. The multicolor display responds to ambient noise in real time, meaning the shoes can quite literally move with the music. These are less “cute shoes for drinks” and more “the DJ has arrived, and her footwear is checking the levels.”
The tech is wrapped inside a seriously massive silhouette. Standing on a 220mm, or 8.7-inch, heel, the all-black sandal uses four adjustable straps made from nappa leather and nylon belts. A molded rubber footbed adds shock absorption beneath all that height, while the matte-finished heel houses the rechargeable light module. It can be operated through buttons on the shoe or paired with a phone via Bluetooth, where different color modes and sound-sync settings can be selected. The module is also replaceable and charges through USB-C.
Founder and creative director Rem D. Koolhaas first imagined a shoe with an LED VU meter nearly twenty years ago, before the hardware could properly deliver the idea. Now that technology has finally caught up, the EQ Sandal feels gloriously unnecessary in the best possible way. Wear it to a party, a DJ set or anywhere that could benefit from footwear with its own visualizer. Some shoes finish an outfit. This pair starts the after-party.
Extra Style Notes
Brand DNA
Founded in 2003 by architect Rem D. Koolhaas and seventh-generation shoemaker Galahad Clark, United Nude fuses footwear with architecture through geometric heels, experimental materials, and futuristic technology.
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