Designer creates shoes with mobile phones inside

An innovative designer has built a range of shoes with mobile phones in the soles to highlight what can be done with old handsets.

Artist Sean Miles, from Windsor product design firm Designworks, has taken a variety of iconic footwear incorporating usable old Nokia and LG phones into the designs.

The director at the Vansittart Estate firm has created what he calls the 'new' Walkie Talkies, building them into a Christian Louboutin heel, a men’s brogue, a Nike Air trainer and a Hunter welly.

He worked on the designs in conjunction with O2 Recycle, which pays people to recycle gadgets, and is aimed at encouraging people to recycle their mobile phones.

The 41-year-old said it was about raising awareness of ways handsets can be recycled, as 30 million a year are thrown away by users.

He said: "It was about creating something that was taking fashion and technology and bringing them to life.

"This is what upcycling is all about.

"I hope that they can get more people talking about the need to recycle old gadgets rather than binning them."

Each Walkie Talkie performs exactly as a normal phone would, with the keypad incorporated into the sole of each shoe.

Guildford resident Sean said they will be auctioned off at the end of this month to raise cash for a charity, and designers are working on non-footwear fashion accessories such as handbags with handsets inside.

Pictures courtesy of Solent News & Photo Agency.