5 answers from a footwear designer

1) What made you pursue a career within this industry?

Since I can remember I have always had a keen interest in fashion! My childhood memories consist of cutting up my mum’s old tea towels and hand stitching dresses for my dolls and Barbie’s. During my placement year at university I found that working within the industry there are always something new and exciting things happening – which keeps me on my toes and is fun to be a part of. Also by working on a commercial level means I get to see my design in store and even out and about of children’s feet!

2) What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into your line of work?

If you want to work within footwear design my best advice would be to practice hand drawing, illustration and Photoshop to build up a footwear portfolio – think about materials, colours and details. It is important to be commercial when you are creating your designs and think about the customer you are targeting and not just your personal preference. Doing this will make you one step ahead of most of the competition. If you see a particular company that you want to work for, my tip would be to contact them – even if they don’t have any jobs advertised. Send in your work to footwear companies and agencies you are interested in working with.

3) How did you get into the industry? – Are there other possible routes?

I believe by having done a placement year at university this gave me an advantage over other candidates going for the job – as I had industry knowledge and experience. I also believe having an up to date and detailed portfolio which I took to every interview helped to showcase my work and ability, but also showed my enthusiasm for the role.

Finally, by studying a fashion design course meant I had the skills and knowledge I needed about the industry to be able to adapt this to my applications. I also gained self-confidence by going for interviews even when they weren’t in my preferred role just so it build up me experience and allowed me to gain feedback on my portfolio.

4) What are the best things about the job?

Designing children’s shoes allows me to be creative using a choice of colours, materials and I can be experimental with the fun aspect of designing children’s shoes. I love designing and coming up with new ideas but one of my favourite parts of my job is receiving samples of my designs and seeing my design in real shoe form still excites me.

5) Do you have any motivational words for people aspiring to become designers in this competitive industry?

“Always believe in your own work – how can you expect someone else to like what you’ve done if you don’t believe in it yourself?!

Don’t be afraid to get your work out there for companies to see it. Finally work hard and you will achieve your dreams!”

Debbie Sutcliffe is a children’s footwear designer at JBi Ltd.
If you would like to know more about Debbie’s role, or to get in touch with her about something else you can find her on LinkedIn here.