Students of the BA Cordwainers Footwear Design recently participated in a design contest set by the internationally renowned footwear brand FitFlop. The students had to propose innovative designs aligned with FitFlop's mission - creating a shoe thought for an active lifestyle using the brand's characteristic comfort technology. An expert judging panel selected 5 finalists from the 34 entries and their shoes were put to a public vote.
After much anticipation, the South-Korean student Suseong Woo was announced as the winner with her Marble sneaker design. We caught up with her to find out more about her winning design and how this experience might contribute to her future career as a footwear designer.\iou
I completely went blank and speechless! I did not know what to say when they announced my name as first winner - I am so thankful and happy I received first place. It is a great honour for me to receive this award and there were a lot of people who supported me. I truly wanted to share this moment with all my friends, family and footwear course classmates. I worked really hard for this and I am so happy and proud of myself.
I was unsure of which design I wanted as my final design, since I made so many in the beginning. I was confused with the direction I was going towards with my final design but I ended up submitting the Marble sneaker which was actually the first one I created.
The collection Marble was inspired by mountain landscape. I looked into the natural environment, where the lines of geological elements advance with a raft of awe-inspiring colours and textural materials. I tried to explore links of contoured forms between straight and curved lines to create different silhouettes.
It was a 5-week project, so I was quite worried about how I could manage my time for the project. Besides, I had never designed sneakers so I created as many designs as possible since I wasn’t too sure of which sneaker I would like most.
I have never been in a shoe factory before, so I am very excited to witness the factory workers making my design. I am also excited to see the process and really understand the steps the factory goes through in order to make sneakers. The more I learn, the better for me.
I did not always want to be a shoe designer —- originally I wanted to be a jewellery designer, but after studying for two years I realised shoe design was my true passion.
In South Korea there wasn't any course specifically in footwear design, so I spent a lot of time searching for a school and I was lucky to have found LCF. One of my friends who studied here told me about this school and how renowned it is, which made me want to apply to this university. Since it was already very difficult to find a footwear design course, I was very grateful to be accepted here.
My plan for the next few years is to work in the footwear industry as much possible in order to learn as much as I can. My goal is that within those years of experience, I will get a better idea of where I want to be professionally.
Suseong's shoe will be available to buy exclusively on FitFlop.com in August.