Footwear Friends Designer Award

On a beautiful Remembrance Day evening 160 Footwear Friends supporters met under the amazing Chihuly chandelier in the entrance to the V&A. It was their annual Designers Award evening. The buzz began as people first strolled around the "Fashion versus Sport" show, sponsored by Ecco. They had also generously invited FF's to gather there that evening.

The president, Richard Paice thanked particularly the sponsors, Hush Puppies and Lotus for their support for the award, and remarked on the wonderful spread of generations present that evening. He then introduced the speaker for the evening, Gemma Treglia, director of design and innovation at Clarks, who regaled the audience with her views on the show. This was followed by the presentation by sponsor and judge, David Rist, of Hush Puppies to Thomas Murphy of this year's designer award. This was followed by a new travel award, donated by Philip Meltzer in honour of his father, Joe, to Rachel Jones.

Much mingling and networking seemed to be going on and it was only at 9:30pm that the last guests reluctantly left. There had certainly been some magic in the air that night.

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In the shoe world of today, what is one of the greatest needs?  Innovative design.
And who needs help most?  Budding designers.

This 172 year old charity, dedicated to those fallen on hard times, is eager to become relevant to today's shoe community.

Hence this new initiative, offering a cash award, and more importantly, mentoring by industry leaders.

This has the approval of the Cordwainers at the London College of Fashion, the Royal College of Art and De Montfort University.

Who should apply for the award?

• A graduate of a shoe college, with probably 3-4 years experience in industry.
• A highly motivated person with ambitions to either create their own brand, web or high street presence, or to become a design director in a leading company.
• A designer prepared to face a "dragon's den" style interview to establish whether they have the mettle to match the ambition.
• Someone intending to make their career in the UK.

How to apply for the award?

An application form can be found on this website. Please complete and email before 15th September. If at this stage you are successful, you will be invited to an interview in London at the end of September.

The winner will be announced shortly afterwards and there will be a formal presentation in November.

This will be followed by a thorough session to establish what support you will need. This may require several people to help you with different aspects. This mentoring process could last 6-12 months depending on the requirement. The £4,000 will be used with advice from the mentor. Only the seriously motivated and determined should apply.