Design Inspiration

Creating something truly unique in the world of footwear is a difficult thing to do. The old saying goes, ‘everything under the sun, has been done,’ and truth be told it is not far from accurate. This at least applies to wearable shoes that still maintain a manner of elegance. Truly horrible concoctions are easy to create, but then who would wear them? I often get asked about where my design inspiration comes from and while I do have some ideas in my head that

I often get asked about where my own design inspiration comes from. And I do have many ideas in my head (and that I have created) that are truly my own design that no one else has done before, but a lot of my inspiration doesn’t come from the earth and the sea and the leaves (like many ‘designers’) but rather in things that have already been done before but then putting my own twist on them to make them different from the original. As you can see in this post, a pair of fashionable ladies boots derived its inspiration from the very classic duck boot model (one such version also seen here) and decided that they wanted to make it wearable for a lady in an elegant way, not needing to pair it with her heavy rain and snow attire. Here is what they came up with and to me it looks quite good to be honest. I find them to be aesthetically pleasing and actually quite cool.

And seeing these makes me want to have a stab at creating my own interpretation of the duck boot in this colorway. And that is what shoe design is folks. We don’t have to be great artists to be great designers. But we do have to have ideas and while ideas won’t always be 100% ours, the way in which we spin them is. But never resort to blatant copying, as that is not design and respectable on any level.

So if you are a young, aspiring designer yet can’t draw a lick, fear not because as long as you have ideas, you can become the greatest designer the world has seen!