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I was hoping this was a contest that any footwear designers could enter, because the exposure would be priceless. In my opinion I think footwear designers or more so entrepreneurs who start footwear companies have it harder than us fashion designers. There is no t-shirt or lower cost means of starting a shoe line..at least not to my knowledge. Footwear is all about design and quality unless your selling to the masses through a Wal Mart, Target type of store, but your chances of receiving orders from them are slim to none without a proven seller.

Footwear News, Nine West and in association with the Fashion Institute of Technology are putting seven promising designers to the test in the first Shoe Star contest. The contestants were chosen from among the school?s accessories design seniors after a rigorous judging process conducted by the Footwear News staff. I really wish they would have made this available to all footwear designers and it would have most likely made for a better competition.

From the site:

“Over the next six months, the seven finalists will compete against each other in a series of six challenges testing their ability to think outside the box and create innovative designs that will keep them in the running to win the 2008 Shoe Star title. A panel of industry professionals, including FN?s editorial director Michael Atmore, Nine West?s creative director Fred Allard, FIT?s professor and chairperson of the accessories design program Ellen Goldstein and a rotating list of celebrity judges, will critique each challenge, eliminating one contestant each round until the winner is announced at the Fashion Footwear Association of New York?s tradeshow in June.

In addition to the 2008 Shoe Star title, the winner will gain a coveted spot on the Nine West design team to work on the spring ?09 footwear, handbags and accessories collections. As the contest progresses, FN will be documenting the competition online and in print, while Ninewest.com will feature video highlights from each week?s judging round.”

To see the seven contestants involved within the competition click here.

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