Fashion student wins The Bacup Shoe Company Design Award 2007/08.

A Preston student has walked away with the top prize in a fashion competition for her innovative and fashionable men’s shoe.

Anna Beasley, from Clayton-le-Woods, collected the Bacup Shoe Company Design Award recently after beating off stiff competition from her fellow University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) students.

UCLan’s fashion design students were asked to design a range of stylish, marketable footwear for Bacup Shoes Redfoot brand. Redfoot was launched in May 2007 and exudes innovation, newness, fashion and creativity. It has been scripted in Hollyoaks, Skins, My Family and Coronation Street.

The 22-year-old, who is in her final year of a BA Hons Fashion Design degree, created a men’s version of an after party shoe called The Rush Hour Shoe.

She said: “I got my inspiration for the shoe after seeing men in London’s rush hour. I go down a lot and always see them leaving the office, reaching into a plastic bag or rucksack and changing into their big trainers so they can run to catch a tube or bus or walk home. I decided if I created a fold up and discreet after party shoe then it would fit into their briefcases and would also be very trendy.”

Anna, who admits to owning a “few hundred pairs of shoes”, was among 35 students who entered the competition. “I was really excited and completely overwhelmed by it,” she said. “I was just really happy and delighted to get the recognition for my work and that was the most important thing.”

It took her a month researching trends and brands before putting together the design. Her experience from last year’s placement with a shoe company played an integral part.

Anna, who wants to pursue a career designing shoes when she graduates in summer, received £500 and the chance to see her shoe sit within the Bacup Shoe Company’s Autumn/Winter range.

Steven Smith, Joint Managing Director of Bacup Shoes, said: “We felt the standard of work was extremely high but we were particularly impressed with Anna. We believe she really understands what Redfoot is about and what we are trying to achieve. Anna’s product is very suitable and attractive for the Redfoot customer. She demonstrated she had clearly thought out the construction and practicality of her footwear design.”

Brenda Reeve, Course Co-ordinator from the Department of Art and Fashion at UCLan, said: “Anna has done remarkably well with a great design. Our students are trained to research their customer and target their market needs thoroughly. They are taught to push the boundaries wherever they can thus producing the innovation which fashion design requires. The Bacup Shoe project allowed the students to put these skills into practice.”