10 Day Challenge...so far






This whole week has been about making and designing. By Wednesday I had 4 shoes designed but hadn't quite settled on the two pairs of heels I wanted to make. I had just about figured the choice of leathers I wanted to use on the footwear and went about making the first few designs because I'm queen of procrastination and didn't want the fact that I couldn't figure out the last few designs to stop me from making. So with nerves and apprehension I present to you my first few steps of my collection so far. (This is only a working project to get me training so the collection isn't quite cohesive but I have tried my best to keep the collection looking like a range!)

























10 Day Shoe Making challenge





On Monday I set my self a 10 day challenge (Monday to Friday for two weeks) to design and make a collection. Last week I came out of an intensive 4 day course that helped me with the numbers side of my business, and off the back of that motivation I decided that doing a challenge where I'm able to make 5/6 pairs of shoes in 10 days would not only help me understand the intricacies of my business better but also give me good training. I've found that I'm always on a busy schedule with either modeling, assisting on courses or blogging that I have less time for actually making, life admin seems to take over and before you know it I'm back at Monday again with only half made shoes. So the next two weeks have been wiped completely clean and I WILL be making. The first two stages are mood boarding and designing, and thats what I've been up to for the first few days of this challenge. I love mood boarding there is something therapeutic about cutting sticking and arranging, I mean who doesn't like flipping through an endless amount of magazines or pinning on Pinterest? So here are my initial stages of mood boarding and designing, I'm not sure if I'm necessarily sticking to the colours I have picked out on the board as I want to use the leathers I already have to save me from wasting time and money at leather stores (which can easily take up a day and hefty wedge of cash) so with this in mind the collection will be designed around the leathers I already have in stock.







@shoesinart




Ive always been an avid art follower, so I hit a gold mine when I came across Shoes in Art, an instagram account dedicated to bringing you footwear depicted from various pieces of art. The instagram account does all the talking! so Im going to keep this post short and sweet so you can head over to Insta to check them out. As most shoe designers know, silhouettes of footwear very rarely change (its all be done and seen before) much like fashion, footwear styles are always recycled adapted to the new modern age. The footwear in most of the art works have definitely come around in fashion a number of times so footwear designers this may be something you can stick in the inspiration bank.





Emma Hope




I'm all over embellishment at the moment, (well actually all the time! ha!) so coming across Emma Hope for the first time couldn't have come at a more convenient time. Now she may be difficult to track down since she has no social media footprint, BUT she does have two very successful boutiques in the affluent areas of Westbourne Grove and Sloane Square. Now I just love designers that are unique, exclusive and non commercial. I'll be the first to mention that Tuesday was the fist time I'd heard of the brand after speaking to inspirational/motivational speaker Neil Sikka, and I'm so glad I have! The embellishment element of her evening footwear are stunning as are the wedding footwear, Hope provides a range of styles including sneakers and casual footwear. Definitely worth a visit in stores or having a quick look via the website but for now here are a few of my favourite styles.





Tassel High Heels, just for me :)




I bought this piece of leather a couple months back, you can see why I absolutely adore it, I've been making lots of accessories from it but haven't yet made a pair of shoes with it so figured now would be the right time to get my high heel sandal game on! I wanted the front straps to be quirky and the tassels baby blue to compliment the design. So far I have got to the point of covering the insole boards, and cutting the patterns out of the leather I have chosen. I have yet to go to London Trimmings, my favourite fittings store to buy the lace and hardware I need to complete the shoe. The tassels will be made from leather that match either the insole board or the heels. (I haven't quite decided yet) The following pictures are showing my initial process, of designing, shaping the insole boards (adding foam for comfort too) and working out what leathers compliment each other. Im hoping by Fridays post they will be ready to wear! (Fingers Crossed)








Espadrilles





I managed to finish off these espadrilles last week while having Drake One Dance on repeat, a song thats getting me totally ready for the summer. Even though Friday and Saturday were pretty miserable last week was pretty warm and I feel confident in getting these out and ready to wear for casual wear. I have styled them with a pair of skinny jeans and baggy jeans so that you can see how versatile they can be. Especially for the spring where it isn't quite hot but can definitely pass for the weather we have in London. Making them was quite time consuming but totally worth the outcome, so I thought why not get them out early in preparation for summer?! I've been on a bit of making spree this week, I've made the clutch bag in this series of pictures too, im totally in love with rose gold fittings at the moment especially this zipper that has gorgeous zipper teeth. For more on this product head to my @madebykirenmodi instagram!

Timing for making this product was pretty sweet, I have been invited to take part in a fare which will be held at the Darren Baker Gallery, in London on Saturday 23rd April 2016. I will be exhibiting some of my footwear and accessory products, where you will be able to customise and purchase your own order and see what I do. You're all welcome to come along as there will be other exhibitors there too. If you wish to come along please send your full names to madebykirenmodi@outlook.com to be put on the guest list.


Date:
Saturday 23rd April 2016

Location: 
Darren Baker Gallery, 81 Charlotte Street, London W1T 4PP

Time: 
11am - 4pm

Nearest Tube: 
Great Portland Street, Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Circus

Guest List Entry: 
Email full names to: madebykirenmodi@outlook.com so that I can add you to the guest list.