Breeding ground for shoe talent

Belgian shoe design has been enjoying something of a creative revival in recent years

Nathalie Verlinden, Ellen Verbeek and Els Proost are three contemporary designers who have each built a successful career on their passion for shoes, though their trajectories were not always straightforward.

“Ever since I was a child I’ve been fascinated by shoes. I used to draw them all the time, and put on my mum’s pairs,” says Verbeek. Unable to find a real shoe design course in Belgium though, she started out by designing handbags instead. But she never let go of her shoe dream: she travelled to Italy and came into contact with a little Italian factory, where she spent a lot of time watching and learning. Her own shoe collection was born in 2005. “I think Belgian shoe design favours the sturdy. Belgians like elegant shoes, but they have to be comfortable as well, so they need broader heels. The Belgian look is also powerful and innovative.”

Nathalie Verlinden had the same dream as Verbeek, and met with the same problem. For want of a specific shoe design course, she initially studied sculpture at Ghent-based art school Sint-Lucas. After that she enrolled at Brucemo in Brussels to learn how to fashion shoes before eventually signing up for a few courses in the ateliers of Antwerp secondary school Stella Maris. “I was several years older than the teenagers around me, and I was the only one there who was actually interested in the course,” Verlinden laughs.

Verlinden was not the only one who ended up at Stella Maris and Brucemo. Els Proost started out at the Antwerp Fashion Academy, but soon learned shoes were her true vocation. She took the same courses as Verlinden, and then started working in the atelier of Dries Van Noten, where she helped design the shoe collections.

After six years at Van Noten, Proost also worked at Armani and Maison Martin Margiela, where she perfected her knowledge of shoes. After a while, she decided to open up her own shoe shop, Elsa, in Antwerp. Finally, two years ago, her Italian business partner convinced her to launch her own collection, also called Elsa.

Several to watch

Here are three Belgian designers, who found their way into shoe design, albeit with a little help from the Italians. “Abroad, Belgian style is often lauded for its quality. We work with nice materials and a eye for detail. Our design is sober, often with retro elements,” explains Verlinden. “I tried to produce my collection in Belgium but there just aren’t enough factories anymore.

And I don’t think the shoe industry will ever return to Belgium, not if you see how hard it’s become to compete, even for the Italians.”

Shoe design teacher Anne Poesen agrees. “If you want to work in shoe design, you almost certainly have to leave Belgium,” she says. Four years ago, Poesen was recruited to teach the first Belgian course for shoe design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sint-Niklaas. Poesen graduated in civil engineering and architecture from the University of Leuven, before enrolling in the Footwear Modelist Degree course at the Ars Arpel Institute in Milan. Her experience and creative vision have transformed the very essence of shoe design education in Belgium.

The Sint-Niklaas course started out very modestly, with one sewing machine. Under Poesen’s guidance, it grew to be a course which combined creative stimulation and technical know-how: the ideal base for every budding shoe designer. Come June, the first generation of students will graduate, and what will they have learned?

“I’ve tried to offer insight into the entire world of shoe design,” explains Poesen. This spring, for example, she is taking her students on a three-day trip to Italy, where they will visit a leather fair in Bologna, the shoe factory of Chanel and an authentic Italian tannery.

Sam Reychler is one of the three students who hopes to graduate this year. He works in his mother’s shoe shop, and enrolled in the design programme because he wanted to learn more about shoe production. “Through my job at the shop I had already come into contact with an Italian factory, where I did a three-year internship,” he says. “But I wanted to learn even more, because who knows, maybe one day I might like to start up my own brand.”

Inge Matthys doesn’t know yet what she will do when she graduates. Her fascination with shoes originated from her fashion studies: “I always felt that shoes could make or break an entire outfit.” Matthys quietly dares to dream of running her own business some day soon. Could it be that the next generation of highly talented Belgian shoe designers is ready to polish their talent, click their heels three times and conquer the world?

Where addicts shop

Shoe designer Nathalie Verlinden, Hatshoe, 89a Rue Antoine Dansaert/straat, Brussels
Obius, 4 Meerseniersstraat, Ghent, www.obius.be

Shoe design student Sam Reychler, De Ruyte, 50 Belseledorp, Belsele, www.deruyte.be. Quicke, 23 Zuidzandstraat, Brugge, www.quicke.be

Shoe designer Ellen Verbeek, Moernaut, 92 Sint-Gillislaan, Dendermonde, www.moernaut.be. Galante, 3 Niklaas Deparsstraat, Brugge, www.galante.be.

Shoe design teacher Anne Poesen, Elsa, 147 Nationalestraat, Antwerp, www.elsa-antwerp.be. Coccodrillo, 9 Schuttershofstraat, Antwerp, www.coccodrillo.be.