Demon's Beastly Shoes Defy GORPcore Gentrification
Alberto Deon, founder of flinty footwear brand Demon, describes his label in the erudite language of a scholar waxing philosophical.
When asked how his label figures into today's outdoorsy-leaning fashion scene, Deon replies: "Demon sits at the intersection between contemporary expressionism and outdoor culture. The degree of intentionality and specificity of the design of our products renders the project alien to proper outdoor culture. On the other hand, the overarching design methodology and construction are orthodox even in the technical context."
Indeed.
Deon's cultured rhetoric reflects Demon's own nuanced ethos, wherein footwear design is reframed as semiotic research driven by material fixation and a desire to provoke.
But even if you'd never heard of Demon before, you'll get it. These shoes speak for themselves.
True to the brand's name, Demon's shoes are beasts. Their most obvious aberration is that gapped Vibram sole unit, an Escheresque headscratcher proportioned like Krampus' cloven hooves.
It anchors Demon's signature Poyana shoe and Carbonaz boot. Their sleek facades look like the result of an industrial designer taking a power sander to ordinary hiking shoes, then rebuilding them using only scant pieces of premium detritus (appropriate, considering that Deon is an architect by trade).
Crackled veg-tanned leather, panels of pony hair, knitted mesh, and crumbling paint all appear in turn.
Demon also utilizes other more conventional soles but, as the shoes stabilize underfoot, their uppers mutate.
Demon's Zhavata mule looks like a giant beetle's sloughed-off exoskeleton; the Vipara sneaker's sock-like upper is sometimes coated in rubber.
Deon rebirthed Demon from the ashes of his family's eponymous footwear brand.
Founded in 1960s Montebelluna, Deon (the brand) produced adventure-ready shoes until it decayed into obsolescence by the aughts. Deon (the founder's grandson) found a new direction for the listless company and, in 2020, relaunched Demon as a separate entity.
"Heritage for us is of paramount importance," Deon said. "With Spring/Summer 2024 I think we’ve completed the first chapter of the brand’s 'exhumation.' Although [my grandfather] doesn’t really understand all the ramifications of the project at the state it is right now, he admires the outstanding level of craftsmanship we reached on our products."
Deon now produces footwear, sole units, and solutions for Demon and clients as disparate as Chinese outdoor brand Kailas and Matthew Williams' 1017 ALYX 9SM.
It manufactures everything in its own self-governed facility, affording Deon and its partners incomparable attention to detail.
That means both outrageously well-made product and the ability to test, mold, and execute ideas in real-time.
No communicating with third-party factories on the other side of an ocean — Deon shapes his companies' destiny in real time.
And that destiny dovetails with Deon's original vision for purpose-driven footwear, shoes that can get the job done. Now, whatever the job is, that's for the wearer to decide. But they don't have to worry about their Deon-made shoes putting fashion over function.
"Utilitarianism is 100% a crucial aspect of coolness nowadays," said Deon.In his words, Demon's creative language at least partially "interweaves parody and performance" — blowing the existing out of proportion without losing sight of what came before.
But Deon is also quick to acknowledge that though Demon was born of the Dolemites, its shoes aren't necessarily meant for hardcore hikers.
"There’s absolutely space for style in the mountains, although it’s not yet our goal within Demon to 'gentrify mountain gear,'" explained Deon. "Not yet. Our endeavor is strictly urban for now."
To Deon's credit, Demon flies in the face of GORPcore gentrification.
Whereas so many young upstarts suddenly emerge and plant a flag in territory established by old hands with stronger footing, Deon's brand has a tangible legacy; it ain't exactly the new Beelzebub on the block. Demon doesn't exist in a staid framework but it is rooted to historic, authentic Italian craft.
Deon is pointedly aware of Demon's place in the greater zeitgeist, how it slots in so neatly alongside other imprints that infuse progressive styling into pragmatic design, like ALYX and similarly Slam Jam-backed ROA.
This is a new field of play, one whose terrain is most suitable for Demon's monster footwear.
"I believe Demon participates in the creation of a new uniform, one that represents post-internet European urban culture," he said.
"As a matter of fact, we could say these post-gorpcore niche brands all belong to a wider family which doesn’t have its own nomenclature yet. The technical contamination in apparel and footwear is so engrained into urban culture that it reminds me of the early days of streetwear."
