Third-year Industrial Design students presented yesterday in Esteiro shoe models inspired by the Galician brand Losal, the same one that wears shoes for Nicolas Sarkozy

«I always compare footwear with the foundations of a house: if they are not good, everything else will suffer, because the base is always the most important thing». The phrase came out yesterday from the mouth of the businessman and designer Gonzalo López Otero, head of Losal, a prestigious brand from Monforte de Lemos founded in 1899 and which can boast of having clients as select as Nicolas Sarkozy. López visited the Ferrol University School of Industrial Design (EUDI) yesterday to review the shoe models that, inspired by the philosophy and aesthetics of his firm, had to be devised by third-year students, within the Projects III subject.

«This is an eminently academic collaboration, but it opens the door for students to do internships in our company in the future … And who knows? It is even possible that one day we will be able to commercialize some of the models presented by these young talents. A student has designed some sandals that I loved!” commented López smiling before stopping, one by one, at each of the proposals devised by the students.

After sealing collaboration agreements with leading firms in the automotive, ceramics or furniture kit sectors -such as Seat, Sargadelos or Finsa-, this new EUDI alliance with Losal has made it possible for the students of the centre to face each other, for first time, to the challenge of designing shoes as if they were part of the staff of the Losal brand. “Before getting hands-on, we had to thoroughly study the characteristics of Losal, in order to adjust our proposals to the company’s profile,” explained student Javier Vázquez shortly before defending his creations before Gonzalo López, among which were futuristic-style sneakers and “derby” shoes in green tones designed for the hipster tribe.

Podiatry tips
In addition, the students also received advice from four professors of Podiatry and the Polytechnic Polymer Group to devise shoes with designs and materials that are comfortable for the feet. “In this work we gave them a lot of creative freedom, but with regard to the technical processes we were very strict,” the director of the EUDI highlighted yesterday about the academic challenge.

It seems that these guys are stomping. Let Manolo Blahnik and Christian Louboutin tremble.

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