Fashion Shoes under the spotlight - All shapes, colours, materials and designs showcased at competition

Shoes under the spotlight
All shapes, colours, materials and designs showcased at competition

By Jade Chan [email protected]

SHOES of all shapes, colours, materials and designs took the spotlight at the Malaysia Footwear Design Competition (MFDC) 2009 award presentation held during 1 Utama Shopping Centre's annual fashion week.

The MFDC was created as a platform for young and upcoming designers in Malaysia to express their thoughts and design capabilities through the creation of their masterpieces, from the conceptualisafion to realisation of the actual footwear.

MFDC 2009 featured five categories: Men's Leisure Shoes Design, Men's Fashion Shoes Design, Ladies' Leisure Shoes Design, Ladies' Fashion Shoes Design and Ladies' Evening Shoes Design.

The top three winners of each category received RM3,000, RM1,000 and RM500 respectively and a plaque each.

There was also a Most Creative Grand Award whereby the winner would be rewarded a free trip to visit an international shoe fair, while
three individuals were presented with a Most Promising Award certificate.

The entries were judged based on their innovation, creativity, practicality, functionality, popular appeal, material selection and safety.

The winners were selected from a total of 270 entries received from 112 participants,85% of whom came from design institutions.

Most Creative Grand Award and Ladies' Fashion Shoes Design Award winner Tan Yen Yen appeared stunned yet thrilled by her double Win.

"My concept was of graphic pop art With the use of picture elements to create a mischievous and playful feel. I wanted to give a new twist to boots, hence I came up with one that had dual function so the wearer can mix and match it with her outfits.

"The base has a funky black-and-white design, along with a jacket that has colourful graphic motif," said the 22-year-old SML Fashion Academy Fashion Design student.

Tan said her win would motivate her to itake up more contests and even design more shoes to Xo withher clothing designs.

In his speech, guest of honour Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said: "This competition is timely, judging from the performance by the industry of an estimated RM1 billion business with exports surging to RM657 million in 2009, compared to RM612 million the previous year.

"The performance by the industry augurs well for the country as the government is also encouraging Malaysians-to buy local products.

The emergence of DatukJimmy Choo, who carved his name in the international shoe design Itarena, is proof that Malaysians can excel in this field. All we need is to create more Jimmy Choos from our pool of talented designers."

Organising chairman YS Leow said: "This competition is aimed at promoting and upgrading local footwear design, and its standard for the
development of the industry."

Leow, who is also Selangor & Kuala Lumpur Shoe Industry Association president, urged participants to take the opportunity to network and offer to design shoes for the celebrities and guest,s of honour that were present at the event.

Local songstress diva Ning Baizura noted that Tan's design stood out because of its creativity, and chic yet edgy look.

"The boots are original, stylish and funky. Tan made it clear when She said she wanted something that was multipurpose, and it's something that can be worn to day or night functions," said Ning.

The self-confessed shoe fan who values comfort admitted that she Would wear Tan's boots, and looked forward to getting Tan to design shoes for her collection.

Ning, along with fellow competition judge and jazz singer Noryn Aziz, also enthralled the crowd with their powerful performances.

The other judges comprised Anita Sarawak, Sonny San, Jimmy Chia, Hazel Lui, Jonathan Cheng and Stanley Chong.

The event included a fashion show by Malaysian designers like Key Ng, Jonathan Cheng,. Scott Chu, Bill Keith and Alvin Tay, some of whom personally designed the shoes to go with their outfits.