Following along in our series of profiles of Shoes of Prey women (our customers!) I'm thrilled to introduce you to Katie Campbell.
A fellow ex-corporate lawyer turned to fashion, Katie Campbell creates Shoes of Prey designs to match with her hosiery from her very own label, FireHosiery. Having avidly studied visual arts throughout high school, it was something of a pivot when Katie chose to study law. Although she never intended to become a corporate lawyer, she went on to work at Clayton Utz which proved to be excellent grounding for her business today. It was also at law where she realised the power of expressing personality through hosiery!
Today Katie is the creative brain behind FireHosiery designs and I got the chance to have Katie in studio for a chat about her design inspiration.
Where does your design inspiration come from?
Inspiration comes from many channels. Fashion media, what's on runways, trend predictions. I'm also inspired by the things around me - from a painting in a gallery, to people in the street or just something in my own imagination. I've always got a sketch book with me and I am constantly adding to it.
When I am putting a collection together, I review all of the ideas and sketches for ideas. Once I've selected the patterns for the collection, I load the sketches into a graphic program to see what it looks like on a leg. The ones that “pass the test” so to speak, are translated into an algorithm for the knitting machine, and then we start the sampling process.
What was your inspiration for your shoes? Having worked in a law firm I tend to have lots of stilettos, but because I am now not just sitting at a desk all day anymore, I wanted something chic, but more comfortable. These are my first wedges and my first snakeskin shoes! I get so many compliments on them and they really go with everything from cute casual shorts and skirts to pretty party frocks. And, most importantly, they go with a lot of the stockings I have - they elongate the leg and make it look like the design continues.
