FIDM Students Hand-Painted TOMS Shoes on Display

Textile Design Students at FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, attended the TOMS workshop at the Los Angeles campus where they were able to hand-paint original textile designs on TOMS shoes. The work, inspired by TOMS Style Your Sole events, is currently on display during the Textile Design & Fashion Knitwear Design Student Show at FIDM.

“My favorite thing about the TOMS shoe project was being able to paint on a three-dimensional textile surface with an interesting structure,” says student Moss Rabbin. “A shape like the TOMS shoe toe made it enjoyable to build a placement design.” Moss created two pairs which were inspired by the 1950s Hollywood actor Yul Brynner and two of his films: The Brothers Karamazov, set in Russia, and The Ten Commandments, set in Egypt.

Students were asked to create an all-over textile print that could be translated into a placement design or related design. After developing their original surface textile designs, they then painted on to white TOMS shoes, spending up to six hours working on a single shoe. The painted shoes will be on display at the Textile Design & Fashion Knitwear Design Student Show, through December 15, 2012, at FIDM’s Los Angeles campus. TOMS plans to auction off the shoes at an upcoming fundraiser to benefit children’s health and access to education.

FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising is a co-educational, specialized, private college dedicated to educating students for the Fashion, Graphics, Interior Design, and Entertainment industries. Known as a one of the top fashion schools, FIDM is also a leading graphic design school and interior design college. Visit fidm.edu for more information.