It's not every day that a footwear collection is premiered in an art gallery, but yesterday Sumfortune shoes made their Irish debut in Gallery 29 on Dublin's Molesworth Street.
The collection is the first collaborative step for two London-based shoemakers, Limerick-born Cynthia Fortune Rainey and Shirley Sum, a British Malaysian who formerly worked with couture cobbler Jimmy Choo and John Lobb in London.
The pair met while studying footwear design at Cordwainers College in London in l999.
The nine styles which make up their first collection with names like Rattler, Dolly and Marlene, are handmade in luxurious and exotic leathers like bleached python and shagreen (sting ray skin), as well as calf leather and goat suede. Signature touches are blocky cowboy heels and low cut fronts, with up to two inch heels. "I like a little elevation in winter myself", says Ms Fortune Rainey.
Ms Fortune Rainey, who grew up in Caherdaniel, Co Kerry, graduated from TCD in 2001 with a degree in classical civilisation and decided to study shoemaking following a conversation with sculptor Barry Flanagan whose daughter studied at Cordwainers. "I was always obsessed with shoes and very pernickety about the type of shoes I wanted", she says.
Ms Sum was studying biology when she decided to change career. They already have a number of private clients and made model Jasmine Guinness's white satin shoes for her recent wedding. The shoes, which start at around €360 a pair, will be sold in Dolls boutique on Clarendon Street and Matches in London from September and the pair are already working on their second Sumfortune collection for next spring. Shoes can also be ordered online from their website www.sumfortune.com