Stepping into the final year of his Footwear Design degree as the winner of an international award has given Ryan Roddy a welcome confidence boost.
Ryan's award-winning sneaker design
Combining three unusual elements to present an original corkscrew concept earned the De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) student top prize in the Prospect 100 Global Design Competition.
Winning has led to valuable exposure during the Covid-19 pandemic – with features in Vogue, High Snobiety, WWD, Tred and more – as well as a six-month mentoring programme with renowned sneaker designer Jeff Staple.
“Coronavirus has made this a challenging year, but winning the award has given me much-needed motivation and a boost in confidence,” said the 22-year-old from Derry, Northern Ireland.
“With footwear design being such a specialist industry, exposure and making good contacts can be exactly what you need to help get your foot in the door.”
Building on a brief set as part of his degree, Ryan developed his design by exploring ways to combine three unlikely elements – orienteering, military and modular technology.
Inspired by the unique construction techniques used for orienteering shoes, Ryan’s concept took a new direction when he discovered that the sport originated as military training in Sweden in the late 19th century.
He said: “The first breakthrough in my design was discovering the corkscrew tank. It functioned like a normal tank, but was able to move more easily through diverse terrain like snow, mud and water.”
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Some of the inspiration behind Ryan's design
Further research led Ryan to the razzle dazzle camouflage techniques used to make allied ships harder to detect by German U-boats during WWI. The complex geometric patterns in contrasting colours made it hard to accurately pinpoint how fast and in which direction vessels were travelling.
“Guided by my research, I began looking at ways to make my sneaker adaptable like the corkscrew tank and razzle dazzle ships. My modular corkscrew technology acts as a cushioned spring which can be removed for a flatter sole to make running easier on all kinds of terrains,” he said.
Hundreds of competition entries were narrowed down to a final twenty, which were posted individually on Prospect 100’s Instagram account and voted for by the public.
Taking first place with an impressive 3,000 likes, Ryan said: “I’m so grateful to people from back home. Everyone in Derry really got behind me and shared the post everywhere. I love that we’re such a close-knit community.”
Boasting a passion for sneakers and excellent drawing skills from a young age, Ryan took the big decision to move away from home after college and enrolled at DMU.
“Before I came to DMU I didn’t know how to actually design or make a shoe, but I did know that I had the qualities it would take,” he said.
“It’s been an excellent experience so far. We’ve got amazing footwear facilities where we can develop our ideas and we can also use facilities across other areas of the design school.
“Our tutors are well-connected and really know their stuff because they’ve worked for some of the biggest brands out there. The support we get from them is great.”
Posted on Friday 11 December 2020