Cordwainers’ Footwear Student of the Year revealed

De Montfort University graduate Rachel Hamill has been named the Cordwainers’ Footwear Student of the Year for her doll’s house themed shoe collection.

Commenting on her win, Hamill added: “I am so surprised and thrilled, I can’t believe I won. I would love to have my own brand one day so this is such a great start for me. I am honoured to have this recognition from the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers and to win this first prize for De Montfort University.

“My designs are always fun and colourful and I think that’s what won it for me. My portfolio was inspired by the Victorian architecture in Birmingham and London. There are a lot of buildings that look like dolls’ houses and that became my theme.”

Winner Hamill, who wins 5,000 pounds, has said that she will use the prize money to launch her own footwear label called Rachel Rose.

The prestigious honour was awarded at the annual the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers’ celebration of the best upcoming shoe designers in the UK at the Clothworkers’ Hall, London on June 8, which also included a keynote speech from international footwear designer and Cordwainers’ College Alumnus Nicholas Kirkwood together with a showcase of collections from British Footwear Association members.

The annual event accepts applications from all current footwear students from the three universities that specialise in footwear design, De Montfort University, University of Northampton, and London College of Fashion, to design a pair of shoes. After an initial selection by the universities, the work of 15 finalists was presented to the judging panel of Guy West, Atalanta Weller and chaired by Katie Greenyer, creative director of Pentland Brands.

Commenting on the calibre of this year’s entries, Greenyer said: “It’s a real credit to LCF, De Montfort, Northampton, and the staff, who I know all work incredibly hard to drive, nurture and direct the students to become the best crop of footwear designers globally.

“It gives me great encouragement to see such talented designers coming through these institutions and that we have the opportunity to employ and benefit from their talents in the near future.”

De Montfort University graduate Rachel Hamill named Cordwainers’ Footwear Student of the Year

Second and third prize went to London College of Fashion graduates Xiao Xiao Wang and Eva Hau, while a special commendation went to Yoon-Yi Lee and Joanna Eden, both from De Montfort University.

John Miller, clerk at the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers added: “We are delighted to host this national award for the very best footwear design students. We believe this will help Britain to maintain its position as the world leader in the design and manufacture of footwear.”

Master of the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers, Jeremy Blanford said: “We are grateful for the support from the footwear industry, we work very closely with the Universities to make it an interesting, challenging and fair competition and to raise the profile of the footwear industry in the UK. We’ve already given away 100,000 pounds a year to the footwear and leather education sector in bursaries and scholarships, and we are committed to increasing this.”

The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers is one of the livery companies of the City of London and its primary charitable focus is to nurture young talent in the fashion and shoemaking industries. It has more than 240 members, of which about 170 are liverymen, including Jimmy Choo and L.K. Bennett.

It created the Footwear Student of the Year accolade in 2014 to support its other scholarships, bursaries and prizes to students of footwear and leather goods, including the Cordwainers’ BA Footwear Scholarship awarded to a student at the London College of Fashion to fund their final project and the scholarships to the top three footwear fashion students at the University of Northampton.

Image: courtesy of Cordwainer's