Day in the Life of a...shoe designer

In a new series, FashionUnited brings you a ‘Day in the Life’ feature talking to insiders from every different walk of the fashion industry. Here they reveal how they got started, work on a day to day basis, and why they wouldn’t swap their

fashion choice for anything. Here we talk to young shoe designer, Tracey Neuls.

FU: How did you come to launch Tracey Neuls footwear?
TN: Footwear seems to be in my blood. When I was a kid, I made shoes out of toilet paper rolls for heels. I think it was destiny to do my own collection, and moving to London gave me the opportunity to pursue my footwear obsession! Already having a fashion design background, I quickly embarked on a few months at Cordwainers College to learn how to make shoes. From there, I was put in touch with a fashion brand wanting shoes for their catwalk. The shoes were a hit and so grew into producing a full line. I even went to Italy to work in the factories and thus learn more about the design process. It was a whole lot of hard work with not a lot of pay, but it dawned on me along the way that I didn’t have anything to lose by starting my own label; and so TN_29 was launched.

F

U: Early Morning consists of...
TN: Emails. Having a global company with stockists worldwide means that we are often working with a substantial time difference; there is always someone awake. Our manufacturers are also an hour ahead. Their day begins at 8am so it is very possible to start out with a bit of Italian first thing!

FU: Late Morning consists of...
TN: Going over my days 'to do' list and catching up with my staff. Managing the retail and wholesale side to the business is a full time job. To think I once thought that having my own design business would be all about doing lovely creative things!

FU: And afternoon?
TN: Generally there are loose ends that need to be tied up. It doesn't matter how much one plans their day there is always some sort of little urgency that crops up out of the blue. For example, we have been working on a printed shoe that has to be finished before the factories go on holidays. We researched print companies and found one that had 5 day lead times which meant that we could refine the print and push our own lead times back a bit. Finally ready to go to print, we make contact with the printers again only to hear that they now need 2 weeks! We have had to scramble around looking for an alternative. Everything else on the list had to be pushed aside. This is so typical!

FU: Daily Objective?
TN: My daily objective is to get something marked off my TO DO list! However my belieing constant objective is just to make good quality original shoes.

FU: Why did you choose the accessories design sector of the industry?
TN: I think it chose me. To have such a passion for footwear at such a young age feels like I had no choice but pursue this area. I feel really lucky to have had such a clear direction.

FU: Why would you recommend accessories design to a...fashion graduate?
TN:To any fashion graduate, I would recommend doing what they passionately feel like doing. To wake up every morning because you want to make money or to just have a job is not enough. You must go where your passion lies.