Footwear Fashion Future Award

12/09/2008

 

The photo shows Felix Braun (2nd prize), Gudrun Hock (Mayoress of Duesseldorf), Isabelle Zahorka (2nd prize), Werner M. Dornscheidt (Chairman of the Board, Messe Duesseldorf GmbH), Simone Schmitt (1st prize) and Ralph Rieker (Chairman of the Federation of the German Shoe Industry - HDS) at the awards ceremony of the Footwear Fashion Future Award at GDS in September 2008.

Award Ceremony as Part of the Young Designer Promotion

The Main Federation of the German Shoe Industry (Hauptverband der Deutschen Schuhindustrie – HDS) presented the Footwear Fashion Future Award to international young designers at GDS for the eleventh time now. Students from European and international fashion and product design schools as well as young company staff were invited to participate. The expert jury assessed the entries in terms of their creativity, originality, innovation, skilled realisation and technical perfection. The Euro 5,000 prize money was this time shared between three winners.

 







Winning the first prize of Euro 3,000 was Simone Schmitt with her stylish designs. Her "Turndown" shoe can be flipped open with a hinge making it particularly easy to put on. Her travel shoe “Shell Shoe” can be made small and is light to carry.

The two joint runners-up were Isabelle Zahorka and Felix Braun. Isabelle Zahorka convinced the jury with her multi-functional "Schuh-Schuh". The basis for this is a thong sandal with an interchangeable leg creating a new look to match every outfit.

Felix Braun takes on the urban sport "parkour": his high-performance style "Scray" protects the feet and joints, increases bounce and grips particularly well.

The award-winning shoe creations can be seen after GDS in a permanent exhibition in the German Leather and Shoe Museum in Offenbach.