DIY Summer Sandals by Sofia Rousinovich

When summer rolls around, footwear usually boils down to the same repetitive lineup of flip-flops and slides. But for Kyiv-based fashion designer Sofia Rousinovich, a pair of summer sandals became the canvas for something far more significant: a practical lesson in zero-waste digital manufacturing, engineered right from her desktop.

Sofia’s latest creation is a fully wearable, 3D-printed sandal printed as a single, flat piece. Designed to print without any support structures or post-processing assembly, the project offers a fresh look at the future of DIY fashion, where high-concept footwear moves straight from a digital file to your feet.

From Haute Couture to Digital Fabrication

Sofia’s path to additive manufacturing didn't follow the typical route of a hardware hobbyist. She holds a master’s degree in fashion design, inheriting a passion for craft from her mother and grandmother, who were both seamstresses. Combined with an analytical mindset passed down by her engineer father, her approach blends traditional garment construction with technical problem-solving.

Before diving into 3D printing, Sofia spent years pushing boundaries in the virtual space. She collaborated with Ukrainian tech studio FFACE.ME to develop augmented reality (AR) experiences for global luxury houses including Fendi, Bershka, and Dolce & Gabbana, building 3D animations and interactive lenses that brought garments to life digitally.

Today, while her day job involves leading the AI department at a Ukrainian film production company, 3D printing serves as her hands-on creative sanctuary.

Born Out of Necessity and Determination

Sofia’s journey with desktop 3D printing began under extraordinary circumstances. Following the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022, she temporarily relocated to Europe as a refugee, carrying only an old computer. Rather than putting her passion on hold, she used that time to teach herself 3D modeling from scratch.

After winning first place in a global Snapchat Lens competition, she set her sights on physical fabrication. She saved up for a Bambu Lab H2D, waiting over six months for the printer to arrive in Ukraine through complex European routing logistics. While waiting for the machine to land at her doorstep, she spent every evening studying slicer settings, material properties, and CAD geometry.

Back in Kyiv, Sofia now creates art and functional fashion against the reality of daily life in a warzone, balancing routine nighttime shelter visits with daytime creation.

"When I didn't have a printer, I ordered samples from local print shops in Kyiv, and they always told me, 'We can't do this.' So when I bought my printer, I made all the ideas they told me were impossible." — Sofia Rousinovich

Engineering the Supportless TPU Sandal

Designing functional, flexible footwear on a desktop 3D printer presents unique engineering challenges, the biggest one among them managing soft, flexible filaments like TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane).

While many 3D-printed shoes require extensive support material that ends up as plastic waste, Sofia deliberately engineered her sandals to print entirely flat without any supports.

Key Design & Practical Highlights:

• Material: Printed using an ultra-flexible 75A TPU shore hardness for maximum flexibility and foot comfort.
• Supportless Flat Geometry: Optimized print bed adhesion and bridging eliminate the need for disposable support structures, drastically cutting down print time and material waste.
• Integrated Breathability: Functional geometric cutouts were engineered across the upper body to ensure airflow during warm summer wear.
• Zero Assembly: The design emerges off the print bed ready to wear, bypassing complex glueing or multi-part assembly lines.

When local print shops told her that printing complex wearable models in flexible TPU was impossible, Sofia used those constraints to prove otherwise on her own printer.

The Vision for Local Manufacturing

Sofia’s summer sandal design is more than an isolated project; it's a stepping stone toward a broader vision. She hopes to eventually open a dedicated creative tech space in Kyiv equipped with advanced digital tools, giving local designers and makers direct access to turn their ideas into physical realities without gatekeeping.

As desktop printing technology continues to mature, creators like Sofia are showing that fashion doesn't need complex supply chains or factory floors to innovate. All it takes is a single printer, clear intent, and the determination to bring an idea to life.

Beyond her footwear, Rousinovich’s portfolio spans a range of experimental 3D-printed accessories, including spine-inspired sunglass frames, a skeleton-structured handbag, and butterfly embellishments for swimwear. She also regularly shares her experiments, such as 3D printing directly onto textiles, across her social channels.

Follow Sofia’s design journey and see her latest 3D-printed fashion experiments on her Instagram page.