Long-running UK fashion trade show Moda, now a fashion destination at Spring Fair, has announced a new collaboration with De Montfort University for its upcoming edition this February.
Sixteen Footwear Design students have been invited to display their creations at the show, with an ultimate winner set to be announced at an awards ceremony on Sunday 5 February. Show visitors will also be given the opportunity to vote for their favourite design and the shoe with the most votes will receive the Buyer’s Choice Award.
“We are delighted to collaborate with De Montfort University supporting the local talent and the future designers to the footwear industry,” says event director Alejandra Campos. “The standards were very high and the innovation and creativity from the students is inspiring. I can’t wait to see their work on display at Moda and give these unbelievably talented designers the opportunity to show their work to a global audience.”
As part of the competition the students’ project brief was based on the Quagga – an ill-proportioned cross between a horse and a zebra that was hunted to extinction in the 1880s. The Quagga evolved through specific conditions, so students were tasked to create footwear that nodded to its transformations.
Senior lecturer Nanette Westberg-Brown explains: “The Quagga project is a unique concept that allows students to really push their design boundaries and explore niche footwear theories and innovations. The results are equally as unique as the brief! The work that the students have produced is a testament to their commitment of footwear studies; having started the programme during the pandemic and resulting lockdowns, they have overcome the challenges of facing reduced access to our facilities and practical prototyping, to excel in their creativity and design ideations. I am incredibly proud of what they have achieved so far, and I’m excited to see where their future careers within the industry takes them.”
Moda will take place at Spring Fair from 5-8 February 2023 at Birmingham NEC; register for free entry here.