“As part of my work as a footwear designer I used to travel to India, Brazil and China to see how shoes are manufactured on mass. I thought that I could do things differently.”

That’s how TERHI PÖLKKI (b. 1980) began to design and create her own footwear collection.

Pölkki graduated in footwear design from the Wetterhoff Hämeenlinna University of Applied Sciences in 2006 and then continued on to do a Master’s program at the prestigious Cordwainers at the London College of Fashion. After graduating in 2008, Pölkki worked in London designing footwear for Topshop, Kurt Geiger and Urban Outfitters, among others.

Terhi Pölkki’s first own footwear collection will be launched in the spring of 2012. “The collection is simple, Scandinavian, even minimalist,” she explains. “I don’t like stitching, so I try to replace them with clean cuts. However, I have also added polished details, such as large stitching. Practicality and comfort are the most important things. The shape of the lasts has also been worked on a lot.”

Ecological aspects are a natural part of the collection because the shoes have been made of vegetable tan leather rather than from metal processed leather which is used more often. The collection’s clogs are manufactured in Finland and the rest is done in Portugal.

“My starting point is always the design, shape and last. The ecological material is there, it’s a permanent thing, but it’s not the major determinant and the shoe doesn’t have to have ecology written all over it,” the designer clarifies. †

Terhi Pölkki’s footwear collection is available in Helsinki through Nudge (Yrjönkatu 30) and Design Forum Shop (Erottajankatu 7).

www.terhipolkki.com

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cordwainers at the london college of fashion, heini lehtinen, jalkinesuunnittelu, shoe design, terhi pölkki, timo anttonen