Talking to Talent - Footwear designer Carolin Holzhuber

“Talking to Talent” is a series of conversations with former ITS Contest finalists, to look at their careers today, talk about aspects of their creativity and reflect on what it meant for them to be part of ITS. Our first guest is footwear designer Carolin Holzhuber, who’s architectural designs push the limits of what is achievable in shoe design, catching the eye of iconic artists such as Erykah Badu, Coco Rochoa, Skye Edwards and Lily Gatins. Combining culture and craft, Austrian-born footwear designer Carolin Holzhuber’s work is often an artistic reflection of meaningful concepts as well as creative imaginings and interpretations of her surrounding environment. Viewing her work more as sculpture than footwear construction, Carolin’s motivation is to develop a continuing dialogue between her pieces and those who encounter her work. Functioning as compositions made up of many crucial and carefully thought of components, the beauty of her work is fully appreciated when understanding her footwear as objects to be considered, reconsidered, and examined, detail by detail. Carolin’s work reflects our fascination and appreciation of the sublime, tapping in to that need to become fixated on something that challenges both the mind and the eye. Sometimes confusing, sometimes disturbing, her visually challenging footwear seems to taunt the laws of physics, making the illusion part of the beauty. All this is encompassed in the use of a carefully selected mixture of innovative mater