LaLaLand Production & Design, California’s largest shoe manufacturer with clients including LVMH, Gap, and Amiri, among others, has teamed up with Elastium, a Los Angeles-based 3D printing startup that created the world’s first fully 3D printed foam shoes. They hope to accelerate the transition to a localised and sustainable footwear industry through a ground-breaking Hybrid model that combines cutting-edge 3D printing technology with traditional mass manufacturing.
This innovative collaboration provides footwear brands with a fast, scalable, and sustainable onshoring solution—no minimum or maximum order quantities, concept-to-market in several weeks, and initial investment costs reduced by up to 80%. This week, LaLaLand’s Los Angeles factory will release the partnership’s first product, the ELSTM Orca sneaker.
Addressing a Major Industry Challenge

Footwear brands have long faced complex supply chains and traditional manufacturing challenges. Logistical overhead, large upfront investments, sluggishness, stockpile accumulation, and rising geopolitical risks have all fuelled the demand for localised, sustainable production.
Companies seeking to disrupt this market typically oppose traditional manufacturing and offer “revolutionary” advanced manufacturing alternatives that, while quick and easy to localise, sacrifice scalability and severely limit the types of products that can be produced.
“For years, there has been a belief that 3D printing and other advanced technologies would revolutionize footwear by replacing traditional manufacturing. For me as an engineer and designer, the idea of 3D printed shoes grown like potatoes in 3D printer farms is fascinating. But the market doesn’t move on what engineers or designers think—it moves on what consumers demand. And consumers demand far beyond fully 3D printed “potato shoes”, which are seen just as another trend rather than a revolution. The actual revolution towards localised production can be only achieved by putting the consumer in the centre of it and integrating all kinds of technologies and craftsmanship into breakthrough products that fascinate consumers rather than designers.”
– Robert Karklinsh, founder of Elastium
The No-MMOQ Hybrid Production Model

To address traditional manufacturing issues and accelerate the market shift towards a localised and sustainable footwear industry, LaLaLand and Elastium are introducing an innovative No-Minimum-and-Maximum-Order-Quantity (No-MMOQ) Hybrid production model. It brings together the agility of 3D printing with the scalability and design flexibility of traditional manufacturing.
By combining 3D printing and mass production techniques into a single pipeline, brands can now launch new designs with as few as one pair through advanced manufacturing, and then reintroduce them through mass production if necessary, without sacrificing quality or cost.
Disruptive 3D Printed Foam Shoes
This flexibility is made possible by Elastium’s ability to bridge the gap between 3D printed and moulded shoes. Elastium has developed a proprietary 3D printed foam with over 75% energy return and superior cushioning performance that outperforms EVA, the industry standard in footwear.
Unlike other 3D printing technologies, Elastium’s 3D printing technology does not require any changes to moulded designs, supports many standard moulding features, and, most importantly, maintains similar production costs. FIDEM, Elastium’s unique pellet-based 3D printing technology, also provides significant time savings when transitioning between 3D printing and traditional moulding techniques, which LaLaLand specialises in.
About ELSTM: ELSTM (Elastium) is a rapidly growing American brand and deep technology company founded in 2021 by engineer, designer, and sneakerhead Robert Karklinsh. Based on groundbreaking research in foam 3D printing, the company develops technologies that allow experiments with previously unattainable forms and materials, bringing them to life in ways that capture the imagination.
About LaLaLand Production & Design: LaLaLand Production & Design is California’s largest footwear and handbag manufacturer, serving luxury brands such as LVMH Group, Diadora, Amiri, and others.
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