“The awards of the ‘3rd International Shoe Design Competition,’ organized to contribute to design and innovation in the shoe industry and increase the export of value-added products, were presented. On the evening of October 10th at Raffles Istanbul, the competition was organized by the Istanbul Leather and Leather Products Exporters’ Association (İDMİB), with creative direction by Hakan Yıldırım. The jury included Gülşen and Edis.
Speaking at the award ceremony, İDDMİB President Mustafa Şenocak said, ‘In the shoe industry, we have achieved very high export values, reaching up to $60 per pair. The way to take this figure even higher is through design. In the first nine months of 2018, we exported shoes worth $703 million to 170 countries. Thus, we surpassed the 2016 export figure in 9 months, and we will surpass the 2017 figure in October.’
TİM President İsmail Gülle emphasized the importance of value-added exports, stating, ‘We have always believed in the power of design and R&D. Design is the surplus of the product and the monetary value of the idea. There is much to say and do about design, R&D, and innovation. I thank the İDMİB family for initiating such an organization.’
‘We are the world’s 6th largest producer in shoes.’
Şenocak stated, ‘We need to increase our exports not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. Today, Turkey is the world’s 6th-largest producer and 8th-largest exporter in the shoe industry in terms of quantity. However, we rank 25th in terms of value. We must change this situation. We can only do this by increasing our value-added exports. The most effective way to do this is to increase our design power. With this competition, which is the third one, we are trying to contribute to this goal.’
Awards for six out of 10 designs
Dila Korkmaz, the first in the Women’s category, won 15,000 TL, Melih Öz, the second, won 10,000 TL, and Gamze Gürtaşar, the third, won 5,000 TL. In the Men’s category, Oya Cevizkaya, the first, won 15,000 TL, Kaan Eratalay, the second, won 10,000 TL, and Alparslan Şendağlı, the third, won 5,000 TL, and the winner of the international education award. In addition, young designers were also rewarded with design tablets contributing to their educational processes.
For LASİAD, Secretary-General Şerafettin Yüzüak attended the event.”
