A glimpse into my fashionable past
I began my career carving wooden lasts and heels for the great & the good of London's fashion world.
A background in industrial design & fashion trained me to have a deep understand of materials: wood, metals, mouldmaking, fabrics & construction.
After spending years honing a love for materials into a successful career as a product designer, I travelled the world, designing for a variety of brands and working in factories around the world. But something was missing. In the early days, below, at Preen's Autumn Winter 2005 show, I would create every pair of shoes by hand. These were moulded vegetable tanned leather. I carved a wooden block and moulded each piece by hand, stitching the centre backs with Irish linen thread. Working this way was soul-affirming. But as the years passed, I spent most of my time working on a computer & telling other artisans what to make.
A stint teaching at a university made me realise it was time to start making again–I was energised when surrounded by other makers. And so I finished my traditional upholstery AMUSF qualifications whilst working as a consultant designer and embarked on a new way of working–as a designer maker.
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