Student

U.S. Marine Christine Sepulveda Participates in Seychelles Field Trip

Footwear Design and Development Student and U.S. Marine Christine Sepulveda, who earlier this year placed 2nd in a Keen footwear design contest, participated in an industry field trip recently at the headquarters of footwear brand Seychelles and private label company Dynasty. We caught up with her to find out more.

What was the best part of the day at Seychelles and Dynasty? The best part of the day was visiting both design offices and seeing the different ways they approach design—branded footwear versus private label. Seychelles focuses more on designing with some budget in mind while Dynasty focuses more on creating designs that focuses a lot on cost. It is interesting to see both design offices because you can appreciate each for their uniqueness and design challenges they work with when they are designing a collection that satisfies their goals as well as their target market.  
 
What’s something new you learned that day: When I visited Dynasty one things that was new and very interesting to learn was how difficult it is to design a shoe that needs to be retailed at a low price point and still look nice enough that someone would want to buy it. The designers explained that when designing a shoe that needs to retail with such restrictions, you need to consider material usage and come up with creative ways how to lower the cost. Sometimes you as a designer will have to sacrifice design to achieve this goal.
 
As a student, why do you think it's important to network? As a student, it is essential to network because how else would you build a report with people in the industry if you have not worked in it yet. Although we live in a technology-driven world, it is essential to meet face to face with people so that they can get a feel of who we are as a person and designer. It also benefits us new designers because sometimes certain positions are not posted and are kept internal so networking would be an excellent way to find about these opportunities. You never know what’s out there until you go out and meet people.

Follow Footwear Design Student Christine Sepulveda on Instagram @frauleinpink.

Categories:  Footwear Design & Development Industry Partnerships Military Veteran Student