I Can Make Shoes and I Can Make Bags hosted a masterclass for 42 young people in collaboration with the Kurt Geiger Kindness Foundation's 'Business By Design' programme 🌟
The aim of the workshop was to equip the participants with the practical skills in bag and shoe making, blending creative design with the hands-on techniques needed for producing wearable fashion.
To kick off the workshop, we demonstrated how to create a handbag pattern and prototype using foam. This section of the workshop focused on explaining the importance of proportions in bag making and making adjustments before making the final prototypes using leather.
After the initial demonstration, the students were each given a sheet of foam to cut out their handbag pattern and prototype their own handbag out of foam. The students were encouraged to get creative and add their own flare to the simple handbag pattern.
Some students decided to alter the topline of the bag pattern to give a different shape to the bag, some students decided to add different closures like buckles and some decided to add details like a woven finish.
After the bag design session, we moved onto shoe design. This session started out with a demonstration of how to tape up a shoemaking last and then designing in 3D. The demonstration focused on the proper techniques for taping up the last, how to draw on the last and also how to consider the functional aspects of the shoe design (like openings, closures and fit).
After the demonstration, students were then each given their own last to tape up. Students were also given their own shoe design sketch books to sketch out their shoe designs before designing onto the shoemaking last. Once students had decided on their designs, they could then start designing on the last.
To finish off the day, we then demonstrated how to turn these 3D shoe designs back into a 2D shoemaking pattern so that these can then be cut out of leather and prototyped.
Students came away from this workshop understanding the fundamentals of bag and shoe making and the sampling process. They were equipped with the practical skills to transform concepts into wearable items with an emphasis on the importance of form and function.
Watch a little snippet from the workshop below:
