Workshop Berlín

One of our greatest satisfactions is showing others the pattern and shoe trades, specifically hand-sewn espadrilles. From April 11^th to 14^th, 2014, we will be leading a workshop at AMD (Akademie Mode & Design) Berlin. Antje Drinkuth, an instructor at the school, met us during one of our fairs in Paris. She invited us to participate in Workshops that they organize before the semester starts. The students come from different disciplines like Fashion Design, Fashion Journalism, and Design Management. Although most of them were students in Berlin, some came from other cities in Germany especially for the workshop. For four days the students designed and produced their own pair of espadrilles. After each student created their moodboard with cuts of fabric, they began the design process on the shoe tree. Wrapping, key points, design sketching. A whole laborious process that the students took up with enthusiasm. Later we showed them how to make patterns from their master pattern or "trepa" as its called in Spanish. They used the patterns to cut out the fabrics they had chosen. Each student sewed their cuts with the sewing machines in the schools workshop. They came out really nice, by the way! And finally the soles are sewn on by hand. A needle, a string of cotton, and a "zapatilla" (like a thimble for the palm of the hand that's used when hand-sewing espadrilles), and plenty of patience! The students did great work and they all left very happy with their pair of espadrilles. And we enjoyed the experience as much as they did and our time in Berlin too.