Face of Flanders: Katrien Herdewyn

Herdewyn, 28, is an engineer with a doctorate in nanotechnology. Her business, Elegnano, designs shoes that use nanotechnology to render the materials resistant to dirt and water. The leather is from the Marche region of Italy, a traditional source of fine shoe leather, but the coatings developed in Belgium are utterly new.

She studied at the University of Leuven, then went on to do a doctorate in physics at the same time as studying shoe design at Sint-Niklaas’ fine arts academy. Then came the London School of Fashion, Italian fashion school Polimoda, the Prescott & MacKay shoe-making school in London and the Dutch footwear institute SLEM.

Herdewyn’s shoes not only look good, they’re also cutting-edge technically. She’s experimented with 3D printing of heels in polyamide, but her biggest breakthrough so far is the self-cleaning shoe. “The leather upper contains minuscule rods that prevent water and dirt from penetrating, causing it to roll off in droplets,” she told Het Laatste Nieuws.

The designer said she was inspired by the lotus blossom, which remains pristinely white regardless of the muddy ground it grows in.

She convinced the jury through her innovative approach, business strategy and passion for enterprise. Her collection currently includes four styles, which sell online as well as in pop-up shops and permanent locations in Ghent, Sint-Martens-Latem and Leuven. The prices are not, shall we say, cheap, but neither is a workshop at Prescott & MacKay.

The four other short-listed candidates for Starter of the Year were diaper service Washcot of Harelbeke, West Flanders, heating specialists Verwarmslimmer of Ghent, guitar builders Stradlin of Hamont-Achel, Limburg, and administrative services provider AnDless of Antwerp.

Photo courtesy Unizo