Object details
| Designer / Studio | Yuxin Song, Qianyi Wang, Yumeng Jia, Xuanchang Chen, Jiahao Yang |
| Studio | Clasp Design, China |
| Components | Sock-shoe, detachable shell, adaptive wrap, BOA tension control, swappable carbon plates |
| Award | EPDA 2026 Top Design, Conceptual / Hobby & Sports Product Design; Winner, Fitness & Sports Garment: Shoes |
Climbers accept pain as part of the equipment. Performance shoes are worn tight, toes curled and pressed, and most people take them off between routes just to recover.
Clasp, a concept by a five-person team at Clasp Design, questions that bargain. Instead of forcing the foot into a fixed shape, it lets the shoe adjust to the foot. The project received a Top Design distinction in the conceptual hobby and sports category at the 2026 European Product Design Award.
The system is built from layers. A sock-shoe is comfortable enough to walk in between climbs. For the climb itself, a detachable outer shell attaches over it. An adaptive wrap and a BOA dial then set the tension, so fit becomes something tuned rather than endured.
Underfoot, carbon plates come in flat and curved versions and can be swapped. One shoe can therefore lean towards different kinds of climbing without buying a second pair.
Modularity has a longer-term benefit as well. Climbing shoes wear out in specific places, and a system of separate parts allows those parts to be replaced rather than the whole shoe.
Clasp is still a concept, but its premise is a good one: performance and comfort need not be traded against each other if the shoe is allowed to change.
View Clasp on the European Product Design Award winner’s page →
Image: Clasp Design.
