1. Dear ERÏK, first I want to say how much I appreciated your Look-book! You did a great job on photography, location, models and editing! Not always designers have the skills to translate the message of their collection so sharp and precise as you did. Where are those skills coming from?

Thank you very much for thinking that about my concept and Look Book, from my point of view it is very important to have a clear vision and target, in my case I wanted to build my brand with a feeling of real neoclassical aesthetic. I found the identity, based on font designer Karl-Erik Forsberg’s Carolus drawn in 1954, represents my Swedish heritage and classic footwear craftsmanship. It combines with an almost mythological feeling. I worked with a brilliant team of Sakari Paananen, Anton Grahnström & photographer Ola Bergengren. I used two poetic Swedish models that I felt a strong connection to.

2. Is it easier as a shoe designer to catch the attention of a buyer? Is
the world of shoes less complex that the world of fashion?

I think as long you are making something unique with good quality you will catch attention of a buyer, no matter what you design. In my case I have made showcase presentation with models wearing my shoes with handmade show pieces (clothes) to show the buyer how my brand universe looks like. I believe that the complex world of fashion and shoes are very close to each other.

3. You presented your collection in Paris at the Tranoi fair. How did it
go? Did you write your first orders?

Everything went really well, I wrote orders and established some orders that have been on my “wishing list”. Now I have presentation and showcase at the Stockholm Fashion Week so I hope to write more orders.

4. What are the shops you are dreaming of to have your shoes in the window?

For me it is important to sell my shoes in shops that can handle exclusive costumers and to sell well made shoes naturally. A good buyer and sales person should know a lot about materials, fitting and footwear treatments. Often cities around the globe have a few high end shops that are specialized in exclusive products, so in that case I would love to be in those shops windows! I was in one of my favourite shop window in 2009 (after my master’s degree) and that was at Luisaviaroma in Florence, Italy.

5. Could you comment on the menswear collections shown in January in Milano and Paris? I am curious to have your impressions.

I always think that Riccardo Tisci, Raf Simons, Hussein Chalayan & Ann Demeulemeester bring something new exiting and mind-blowing every season. This menswear AW2011 I felt a gap between designers that are working on new, though inspirations with great execution, compared to some brands that are still popular but without any real substance. I get a feeling that costumers and buyers are hungry for something small, small in that sentence of the designers profile look, well made and on an individual level, so I’m hoping they will find me, ha-ha.

6. What is your next step in your young career?

I want to built my next collection thoughtful and focus on new useful functions, love for details, beautiful shapes craftsmanship and to keep an entirely handmade production in Tuscany, Italy. In long terms I would like to develop my shoes into a design house with limited handmade products/items. At the moment I am creating a chair for example.

7. You are living in Stockholm. How did you experienced Florence and Italy studying at Polimoda?

I am from Stockholm and moved back where I am at the moment, I have a showroom here but I am planning to move to Paris and build myself a studio. I experienced Florence as a very good city to study in, I still have many friends there and I would love to move back to Florence in future. Studying at Polimoda was in my opinion the best thing that has happened to me, one of my teachers and mentors was Patrick De Muynck & Diane Becker, and I learned really a lot, especially to believe in my vision and to create them without feeling forced. It really hit me some weeks before my master collection would be presented, that everything that I wanted was about to happened, it felt very exciting and I felt like they had helped me fit my own special shoes that I had made, and now I was ready to walk as the person that I am today. I am very thankful for that.

8. Did you fine an Italian producer for your shoes?

I had the luck to be introduced to my Italian producer before I finished Polimoda. Mrs. Diane Becker drove me one morning into the Tuscan mountains to a village where they have very skilled craftsmen, shoemakers. I worked with them and I decided to returned to the village by my own and make more shoes, (many times) till today.

9. What would you give as advice to students who study shoe design?

It is important to understand and to try the process of making the shoes, and to find your own style that speaks for you; try different materials and push your boundaries of what a shoe could look like. Pay attention to classical footwear and what’s missing. In my opinion I think to become a great shoe designer is to have knowledge about entirely handmade shoes and its construction.

My grandfather always said that the shoes decide the temper, and I liked that.

Thank you a lot of these questions Linda. They were great! Erik.

Erik Bjerkesjö is nominated as the new fashion talent from Sweden, by the Swedish fashion council! He will have a showcase/runway at the Stockholm Royal Opera at Stockholm Fashion Week! Good luck Erik!

Linda Loppa.