Shoeology

SHOEOLOGY
Footwear designer Swati Modo blogs about her facination with the world of shoes
"The world of shoes has fascinated me since childhood..."
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Shoeology
The world of shoes has fascinated me since childhood, so much so that I wanted to be around shoes all the time! Hey, we all like observing people, particularly their facial expressions, to analyse their personality. As for me, I have always been interested in studying their footwear!
I still remember a conversation with my dad when I was a little kid. I had asked him why we need to wear shoes. He patiently explained why and then introduced me to a well known saying: "Judge a man by his shoes". It was that day I inculcated this habit. Whenever I meet someone, I observe their footwear. In college, I used to sit for hours in the canteen... just to watch people moving in and out wearing all kinds of shoes. Shoes were all I saw and shoes were all I wanted to see.
Every time I go shopping, I buy a new pair of shoes. I have even noticed on occassion that while buying shoes, many people tell the salesmen that a particular shoe is better off with or without a strap or an embellishment but eventually they would settle for something which was just "doable".
As I grew up, this observation became more acute and I enrolled myself in a footwear designing institute. Here I realised that my product USP was customisation. And sure enough, I have had many clients coming in with their specifications... a boy who wanted a five-inch heeled shoe because of a taller girlfriend, a bride-to-be who wanted her bridal shoes embellished with Swarovski crystals, and a gentleman who was so in love with one of his suede jackets that once it was worn out he wanted me to re-incarnate it as a shoe. Cheers