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Sarah Inyoung Park

The Royal College of Art

Fashion Design (Footwear Pathway) MA

Footwear, Sustainable Design, Unisex

Sarah Inyoung Park is a South Korean Footwear Designer with 3 years of experience in the field. Sarah has lived in multiple cities across the globe for about 10 years, from Seoul, New South Wales, Firenze, Hong Kong, and London. She first studied Footwear & Accessories Design at Polimoda, Firenze, Italy and after having worked as Footwear Designer in Seoul, South Korea, Sarah then got her Master's Degree at the Royal College of Art, London, specialising in the area of Footwear Innovation. Her work particularly revolves around the combination of her reflection on industry experience and multicultural journey. Sarah loves to explore an emotional balance between handcraft and innovation, utilising her trained Footwear knowledge with advanced technologies to develop creative/conceptual styles of Footwear and a making process that is not only unique to herself but also supports a better future for the Footwear industry both environmentally and ethically.

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Via Il Prato Trainer

Category: Footwear

Competitions: International

Via Il Prato Trainer is part of the Multicultural Footwear Series (RCA 22 Final Collection), which navigates my multicultural journey across different locations in Seoul, New South Wales, Firenze Toscana, Hong Kong, and London, yet building my own creative and making process reflecting on my education and work experience specialised in Footwear Design since 2011. Each moment in each city shows a different part of me while they are all interconnected through the sole design which represents my Korean identity. Via Il Prato is the name of the street where I lived for 4 years during my BA study (Footwear & Accessories at Polimoda) in Florence, Italy. I captured my memory around the area UV printed onto the Bananatex Fabric upper, which is a biodegradable material. Not to mention the eye-stay silhouette comes from another area called Mok-Dong in Seoul where I had lived for over 10 years. The Mok-Dong-inspired eye-stay has been made with recycled leather that was sponsored by E-leather Group. Therefore, every single element of this shoe has a meaning and each represents a story of myself and my community. Shoe-last is another key factor of my design, I started this collection by creating a new form of last (foot shape) initially inspired by my mum's Hallux valgus foot to confront the normal foot shape when it comes to purchasing shoes. To develop it further, I gathered 8 different foot images of my international friends to merge their silhouettes into one universal shape for the last. As for the Sole design, I began by exploring my Eng+Kor name initials in Korean Alphabet in Gravity Sketch to create a unique yet playful silhouette, then after having it 3D printed, to make it more practical and feasible, I added a midsole that fits the last by using Rhino. Hence, this shoe has been a medium for me to explore who I really am as a Designer as well as an Artist, and how I should create such meaningful and responsible design while staying creative and innovative.

In association with Arts Thread

Working with our partners at Arts Thread to develop lifelong learning and career opportunities for students of fashion and design. Our partnership provides the opportunity to compete on a world stage, participate in industry led workshops, set up an outstanding portfolio and gain access to the resources that will kickstart careers in fashion and design.