Totally Mental Modular Shoe Design.

Ok, call off the dogs. Forget flip flops with changeable uppers, forget removeable heels, don't bother with foldable ballet slippers.

Designer Sharon Golan pwns all of you with her modular shoe design. Only 256 combinations to work on. Plus an instruction book and a DVD to figure it all out.

What is it with Israeli shoe designers anyway? First Kobi Levi and now Sharon. Brilliant!

Source: Reuters

Who can make my shoe prototype?

One of the most common questions we are asked is if we can make footwear prototypes.

The answer is, no, this is not the focus of our business - we concentrate solely on design, not sampling. This is because we do not have a workshop. The designs that we create for our customers are made in the sample rooms of the footwear factories that will also be making the production.

First of all, what is the function of a prototype? Is it to sell from? Is it to gain investment?Is it to test out a patented invention?

I personally think that shows such as Dragons Den are a bit misleading - the entrepreneurs we have worked with at www.shoedesign.co.uk have not needed a prototype to gain investment. It's not really necessary. All I can think is that they need to see a prototype on Dragons Den because it would make rubbish television viewing if they didn't have something for us to look at! The most important thing to investors is a sound business plan. They will be more interested in your order forecast that whether that heel is a nice shape! The prototype comes after the investors. The usual course of action is business plan->investment->prototype.

If you want to patent an invention of course you will need a prototype, but this would normally come after you gain investment, not before. You will need to consider the capabilities of the person who will be making this - do they have relevant experience to do a good job? Do they have access to the relevant machinery to make your prototype?

If you want a prototype to sell from, beware - if you are selling to retailers, then it's really important that the shoe sample looks exactly like the production. So it really needs to be made in the sample room of the factory that will be making the production, otherwise it is impossible to get the same look. So you really need to find a suitable factory for your footwear range and this is why we always stress to business start up's that they need to start looking for a suitable resource sooner rather than later. And just the same as investors, they will also be interested in your business plan. If they can't see evidence of any orders, then it's pretty hard to convince them to take you on.

Although we do not offer a factory introduction service , we can help you with advice on how to go about this.

More on our website

Sneaker Design Courses?

I do occasionally get asked about these but they tend to be thin on the ground. Sneaker designers tend to come from an ID background, which means they are as likely to be able to design phones, but that also means that they may not understand much about footwear construction.

Students on footwear courses have to learn pattern cutting and making, but their courses tend to focus on traditional footwear and may only briefly touch on sneaker design.

So I was interested to hear that Parsons School of Design has introduced the Pensole Program - a four week course specifically in sneaker design and tutored by a Nike designer.

The great thing about this course is that in order to get a place you are judged on your talents as a shoe designer and not on the traditional qualifications.

I hope we will see some exciting new talent and some amazing new shoe designers emerging from this innovative program.

You may not be able to view this link as it requires a subscription to the USA magazine Footwear News, but you can always message me if you want to know more.

Picture courtesy of Footwear News

http://www.wwd.com/footwear-news/pensole-program-debuts-at-parsons-3620160?src=nl/FN/20110523

Cheesy Feet (geddit?)

I love 'Art' shoes, that is - shoes that aren't really shoes as such but are made for artistic purposes. Fashion Student Lisa Dillon has made some high heeled shoes out of cheese (yup, cheese you read this correctly).

More here, http://www.stylelist.com/2011/04/15/shoe-made-of-cheddar-cheese-sandwiches/

Micam Time again!

I'm booked on the Redeye from Heathrow to Milan tomorrow, for my biannual visit to the Micam fair. Micam is one of the most important footwear fairs in the world and is the fair if you are interested in fashion shoes.

It is held every March and September in the Fiera Milano, which is based outside of the city near Malpensa airport.

So why should a freelance footwear designer attend a footwear show? Well....

This is the most important fair for me. I occasionally attend other shows, but I never miss this one. I meet clients who manufacture in Italy, it's an easy way of speaking to the factories that we work with because they all have exhibition booths at the show, they usually have samples ready to show us, so we can try them on and make any adjustments while we are there. I also cover the show for clients who are too busy to attend, I go and meet their suppliers and make sample selections, then in the evening after the show, I email the photos and prices to their office.

I network with people I know, it's a good way of catching up, especially with friends in the trade who live abroad, we only see each other because we both attend.

I meet potential new clients, who have seen that I am visiting the show from reading my website.

I visit the shoe factories that I know and we exchange information and ideas.

I buy lots of fashion magazines, particularly trade press that might be difficult to buy back in London.

I also walk the fair looking for new trends, I visit the vintage section in the bag show (Mipel) because it is usually a great place to get ideas and I visit Milans shops, to check out trends there.

So it's a really busy show for me.

But there are some fun bits, I always stay with my friend and fellow Buddhist Paola. She is an artist and I sleep surrounded by huge and quite dramatic pop art paintings! Then there is the British Footwear Association Party - always great fun and the UK shoe trade get on together like a house on fire, we love to catch up with each other.

Then the shopping, ooooh the shopping. I usually come back with a pair of shoes and something from my favourite store 10 Corso Como, but being a keen cook, I can't resist wasting time in the cooking dept of La Rinascente department store - this is another amazing store if you visit!

Then finally, being a boater I always visit the Navigli Area, the canal area, which always makes me appreciate the canals in the UK, because they just don't treasure the canals in Milan, which is sad.

If you ever visit the Navigli area of Milan, look out for the little old ice cream shop between where the two canals meet. It is fabulous inside, wooden carved cabinets with glass etched doors and lots of polished brass. And very nice ice cream. This area of town is also good for eating out.

Image for this post was borrowed from the Micam website which is here http://www.micamonline.com/micam/main.nsf/openSezione?openagent&sezione=MICAM0AA68

Fashion Fringe UK Shoe Design Competition.

This is pretty much the Footwear Designer competition of the year (the other one being the Footwear Friends Award) and has been won in the past by fantastic new shoe designers who went on to become well known and successful in their field.

This year Fashion Fringe have partnered with Bruno Frisoni, who will alos be judging the entries and the top prize is a six months apprenticeship with him, working on the Roger Vivier line in Paris. So a fantastic not to be missed opportunity.

Applications for the 2011 awards are now open. http://www.fashionfringe.co.uk/accessories/

Image courtesy of www.stylefrizz.com Bruno Frisoni for Roger Vivier

Just to add: it has been drawn to my attention that there are shoe design 'competitions' out there that may not be what they seem. Please be careful. Do not enter any competition that requests that you to pay them money to enter. Be sure of who you are dealing with. No genuine shoe design competition that I have ever seen has demanded money. The competition should be about your talent and not about how much you can afford to pay.

Burglar Identified by his Hello Kitty Sandals

I used to design Footwear for the Hello Kitty license, the highlight being a trip to the Sanrio Headquarters in Germany, where we had coffee from a pink Hello Kitty coffee machine and we drank out of Hello Kitty mugs!

So when I saw this story I had to laugh. In Japan and other parts of Asia, it's not considered odd for men to like Hello Kitty. Infact I've sat in many a boardroom meeting besuited executives and smiled when they produce Hello Kitty stationery from their briefcase!

So, I read this story on Anime News Network a burglar in Japan has been identified by his pink Hello Kitty sandals. It sure beats the Reebok Classic which is the boring choice of villains in the UK!