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[dropcap]T[/dropcap]oday Style Spot features young successful renowned footwear designer Filafi Fithu who created a niche at Footwear industry in 2013 under the Label of her own name ‘Filafi Fithu ‘which is already an International luxury designer footwear brand for women founded in 2013 at New Delhi. With her design presence in India and Italy, Filafi has worked at Leiner Shoes Private Limited: Collection for Italian movie L’uomo Volante manufactured exclusively in Italy with the finest of leathers. In conversation with Eastern Mirror, Filafi guides footwear maniac in picking up the right pair for you.
EMN: Of the entire field why did you choose the footwear industry? How did it happen to you? Filafi Fithu: I had a special relationship with shoes from forever. Finding my size was always a problem, so sometimes I bought two pairs in the same colour if it fitted .Or I would buy shoes that were just not my size and try to deal with it with insoles, stuffing and sometimes re-stitching the straps. It never really helped but it always left me intrigued about what the solution could have been. I have always wished to wear nicer shoes because it is empowering. Being that typical independent woman I decided to go down to the bottom of it and learn how to make them on my own and the rest is history.
EMN: Which color is/are the most celebrated ones for footwear? FF: Every colour is important as in clothes depending on the season. For fall you have dark colors and for spring-summer you have all the bright colours. But I would say black,red and nude are the most essential colours for every woman’s closet.
EMN: What is the universal foot size for man and woman? FF: 41 for men and 37 for women EMN: As a footwear designer you must have a huge collection so tell us how many pairs do you own? FF: I don’t keep a count but it’s a few hundreds for sure.
EMN: As an accomplished footwear designer are you conscious or obsessed to wear only designer shoes? If no, do you wear the ordinary footwear? FF: I have never owned any designer footwear apart from my own due to size issue. I can wear ordinary footwear as long as the quality is not rubbish.
EMN: What are the common mistakes that people do while purchasing footwear? FF: Wrong fit and compromising on quality. Leather is expensive but the most luxurious,comfortable and durable material so far. It lets your feet breath and conforms to the shape of your feet.
EMN: Women are fetish about high heels. What mistakes do they do while buying heels. FF: It’s very simple. If a high heeled shoe does not allow you to stand and walk with a straight back or in other words, if your ankles hurt while walking in the right way in heels (i.e letting the heels touch the ground first ,not the toe part) it is not well balanced and hence defective. That is the basic criteria to remember while buying heels.
EMN: People, especially ladies go through shoe pain with blisters. As an expert in this field, can you suggest for the ladies to alleviate the pain by going for the right shoe? FF: The quality of lining is important. And don’t buy shoes that make your feet slip because that causes friction between your skin and the shoe when you walk and hence the blisters.
EMN: Of all the shoes you’ve designed which design has given you more satisfaction so far? FF: The pump, it is the most classic and the most difficult at the same time.
EMN: Having come across varieties of footwear designs, which design have you never been fan of. FF: Sneakers, unless I am working out.
EMN: Any tips/message for aspiring shoe designers? FF: Be true to yourself.
Filafi’s latest developments: Spring/Summer 2015 will be launched early next month (i.e.March). Currently she is working on Winter 2015 and will be entering more European markets specifically Benelux (Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg) very soon this year.