MIAMI vibes: AI Footwear Design Challenge 3.0 invites designers from around the world, seasoned creatives, and beginners alike, to explore how movement, culture, and artificial intelligence can shape the next generation of shoes.
Designed as a platform for experimentation and dialogue, MIAMI Vibes brings together designers, technologists, and cultural thinkers to investigate how emerging tools and global narratives are shaping the future of footwear design.
Building on the success of previous editions, MIAMI Vibes 1.0, which premiered at MICAM Milan, and MIAMI Vibes 2.0, showcased in Miami during the Dancing Shoes exhibition celebrating the centennial of legendary Cuban-American performer Celia Cruz and her signature cantilever-style shoe style at the InterContinental Miami Hotel, the initiative continues to explore how design innovation, cultural heritage, and technology intersect, transforming footwear into a medium of movement, identity, and expression.
The 2026 edition, titled “250 Years of the United States: Designed in Motion (1776–2026)”, invites designers, creatives, and innovators from around the world to imagine footwear as a dynamic expression of movement, identity, and technological exploration through the lens of sport and artificial intelligence.
Emerging as a global sports mecca, Miami will host world-class events, including the F1 Grand Prix and FIFA tournaments, placing the city at the center of international attention.
The MIAMI Shoe Museum sees this moment as a unique intersection of culture, sport, and design: a stage where movement, both human and cultural, becomes a language of identity.
MIAMI Vibes 3.0: AI Footwear Challenge invites designers worldwide to respond to this moment, exploring how American identity can be expressed through motion, sport, and innovation, using AI as a creative partner.
Participants are encouraged to push creative boundaries while engaging with the cultural and historical narratives that shape contemporary design. Selected works may be featured in the global digital exhibition Designed in Motion, reaching international audiences and evaluated by a distinguished jury of design professionals, curators, and industry experts.
Winners will also receive an Individual Professioanl Platinum Membership to the MIAMI Shoe Museum Research Center (valued at $950), offering professional and cultural benefits including complimentary consultation sessions with the MSM Research Center, mentorship opportunities, member-only previews of special exhibitions, events, and pop-up installations presented by THE SHOE VAULT in various locations, as well as exclusive discounts on conferences, talks, and educational programs organized by the museum.
Challenge Categories
MIAMI vibes offers participants the opportunity to participate in a forward-thinking global design initiative connecting: designers worldwide, AI and technology communities, cultural institutions, and global audiences in three different categories:
Speed & Innovation:
Performance, velocity, and technological aesthetics, inspired by the visual language and engineering culture associated with international motorsport.
The Global Game:
Sports that connect cultures worldwide, like the FIFA World Cup
Freedom to Move:
Footwear as expression, accessibility, and personal narrative.
Eligibility
Applicants must be 18 years or older to participate
Participants may apply individually or as part of a team, with a maximum of 2 designers per team. Each team or individual may submit one design per application.
A non-refundable submission fee of US$ 55 + tax per design proposal is required at checkout.
Applications submitted without payment of the fee will not be considered.
Jury Criteria
Conceptual Strength,
Design & Innovation,
Use of AI as a Creative Tool,
Cultural & Historical Relevance,
Presentation & Communication
Are you ready to make your mark in the future of footwear?
