British Footwear Association names Sarah Day in Fab 50 people in the Footwear trade
- Written bySorcha Cheevers
- Published date 07 February 2024
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We recently caught up with Sarah Day, Course Leader for BA (Hons) Cordwainers Footwear at London College of Fashion, UAL, who has been named as one of the British Footwear Association Fab 50 people in the Footwear trade. This esteemed initiative spotlights 50 remarkable individuals from the footwear industry, selected for their significant contributions and innovative spirit. Sarah chats through her journey at LCF and how she became involved with this award.
Hi Sarah, please tell us a bit about yourself?
Hi! I’m a very outgoing person, and humour carries me through many tricky situations and is great medicine for tough times. The reason I do my job is because I want to create the best experiences and opportunities for our students to excel. I am generally happy to stay in the shadows and let the students and our lovely staff team shine, but the British Footwear Association award highlighted to me that it would be useful to use this award to promote the footwear education, and specifically what we do here at LCF Cordwainers Footwear.
Where did your passion for footwear come from?
I had never wanted to be anything other than a shoe designer since the age of nine. My parents had a friend who trained at the Royal College of Art as a fashion designer, and I was in awe of her. I was also obsessed with a painting by Michael English (80s Athena pop art style poster) of a Polka dot shoe on my cousin’s wall. I drew the shoe day in and day out, even replacing my maths homework with rows of shoes which I found much easier! I made shoes out of modelling clay for school projects and continued to draw.
I came to Cordwainers Technical college in the late 80s when it was still operated by the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers. I want my students to have the type of experience I had during this time. I then went to Cordwainers in 1984 and was the youngest person to be accepted on that course at that time. I have been in the trade since I graduated in 1987 and had an illustrious career working for many well-known companies, including Clarks and Pentland. I ran my own consultancy very successfully for 13 years until I closed it to focus on my academic career. I am a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers and have recently been appointed the Chairman of their Trade & Education committee. Full circle life!
The beauty of shoes is a very intoxicating subject. Somehow, many of us have a very primitive connection with feet and what we put on them. For many of us it is a fixation and once it is in your blood it never leaves you.
How long have you worked at LCF? What do you do here?
I joined LCF as a part-time design tutor while I was running my consultancy business. I gradually took on more roles and responsibility, for example covering the Course Leader position for 2 years, and eventually becoming permanent Course Leader for Footwear sometime after that. I have taught at LCF for 19 years, and for 11 of those I have been Course Leader.
Can you tell us a bit about your course, BA (Hons) Cordwainers Footwear, and what makes it unique?
Our course is unique in that it came from the original Cordwainers college. The Worshipful Company handed the course over to LCF for safekeeping in approximately 2000, and so we are the only footwear course in the world with Cordwainer’s heritage. We have a massive list of successful Alumni, including names like Jimmy Choo and Sophia Webster. We also have a super impressive staff team who are all industry professionals, with some even running their own footwear companies. This gives students unique insight and expertise into the workings of the modern footwear world. We also have amazing links with our friends in industry, which keeps the curriculum current and up to date.
How did you get involved in the British Footwear Association (BFA) Fab 50 initiative?
The BFA has been running for many years supporting the footwear trade, and I have taken part in many events and meetings held by the BFA in the past. This is the second year the Fab 50 initiative has run, and it is a great honour to be nominated in the listing this year.
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to embark in the footwear industry?
DO IT! Specialising early on in your career instead of doing a general or oversubscribed fashion degree is a very good idea for many reasons. Employability is increased, and jobs are fantastic for personal development. Being a shoe designer has so many benefits. Being able to travel, see the world and meet new people is a bonus, but loving the job you do and seeing people enjoy your creations is so rewarding. Footwear is also a very technical specialism so if you like technical work and are interested in process, machinery and conceptual ways of thinking, then it is the course for you. Footwear is like fashion engineering for the feet. The footwear industry is also very small and communal; you become part of an extended and warm footwear family!