Heidi Walmsley

I am Heidi Walmsley and I am a final year footwear design student at De Montfort University. I have a particular interest in women’s luxury, contemporary footwear. I like to take traditional silhouettes and put my own twist on them to make them more interesting. Despite a lack of access to footwear machinery during my fine Art A-Level and Foundation Art Diploma that I achieved before university, I often found ways to link my work to footwear, experimenting with alternative materials like Modroc and clay to create models of shoes. I would always find myself rushing to the shoe section in stores like Selridges and this started my ambition to become a successful footwear designer. I enjoy traditional pencil sketching as well as digital rendering on Pro Create and Photoshop. A skill I developed in a university project with Adidas and Gravity Sketch was using a VR headset to create 3D models of designs, facilitating the magic of 3D printing. Winning a Biomechanics award and presenting to the Adidas design team at their headquarters in Germany, have been incredible course highlights. More recently, I had the honour of being announced as the winner of the Graduate Fashion Week Accessories Award, supported by YKK. Beyond my studies, I'm a committee member for the university snow sports society. We train once a week, enjoy weekly socials and embark on annual ski trips.