It wasn't the first time, when I made an interview with a fashion designer, but what attracted me in Pikkpack kit the most - is that Sara tried to think about the customer's comfort in the first place. Sara Gulyas is a Hungarian designer working in this sphere for more than 10 years. Her the most famous invention up to date was a pair of Pikkpack shoes, with the ability to design them even on your own. Moreover, the Pikkpack project - is one of the most successful start-ups of the Kickstarter platform. The concept of her unique fashion invention, the principles of successful start-ups and importance of the team spirit - read in my very new interview with fashion designer Sara Gulyas.
1. How and when the idea of the shoe kit appears?
We cut the uppers from a single piece of leather and
sew the soles to the uppers to give the wearer a solid base to stand on. The
customer will receive an envelope that contains a canvas bag. In this bag he finds two
of these single pieces of leather, one for each foot, which he can assemble to create a
pair of street shoes with his own choice of colored shoe laces.
1. How and when the idea of the shoe kit appears?
I see design as an
iterative process and it was very important to me to involve the wearers at some point of
the “manufacturing chain”. On the other hand, I love assembling things on my own and
I’m really interested in foldabilty and modularity in design. Waste cutting and
finding alternatives to the current fast fashion trends have also been important aspects to me.
These impressions and motives lead me to the idea of a DIY shoe kit.
2. How it actually works?
We cut the uppers from a single piece of leather and
sew the soles to the uppers to give the wearer a solid base to stand on. The
customer will receive an envelope that contains a canvas bag. In this bag he finds two
of these single pieces of leather, one for each foot, which he can assemble to create a
pair of street shoes with his own choice of colored shoe laces.
3. What inspired you for this work?
After experimenting with foot wear for
a long time, I wanted to create a shoe with the minimal amount of material that would make the wearer
part of the shoemaking process. Pikkpack Shoes started as an university project
with the inspiration comingfrom an old Hungarian shoe called bocskor (pronounced:
“BOTCH-core”)which was made from one single piece of leather (see the sample below. *editor).
4. Was it the first design invention by you?
No, Pikkpack is not my first design
invention but my first start up idea. Obviously, my previous designs and
projects strongly inspired Pikkpack. Usually, when you enter into a project, you don't
know what you've learned until you start the next one. I implemented many of
my learnings and experiments when creating Pikkpack.
5. What was the main concern of the Pikkpack project –
aesthetics, cost-decrease or comfort?
Cost-decrease, I would say. It’s
still very expensive to produce the shoes which of course appear in the selling price. The
costs of material and manufacturing can not be pushed down for the time being.
6. I bet, behind every successful project stands one big team
- Introduce your incredible team please. What do you think the most
important for success – the team work, or the product exceptional features?
There’s the three of
us working together, Andras, Hanna and I. Andras, who is alsomy partner is our
business development specialist. He oversees all the strategic issues and
makes sure that everything is going in the right direction and we are working in the
most efficient way. Hanna covers marketing and communication tasks, planning and
how to engage with people through a variety of channels. I think we are a great team
and we’ve been through a lot together.
Ideally, the harmonious mix of
those two factors leads to success.
7. What kind of obstacles faced your team
when you commenced the start-up?
A big challenge has
been to always stay true to our ideas despite of all the financial and
practical restraints, and in the meanwhile to learn how to remain flexible and
adapt to changing circumstances. It’s a
very long learning process but we are getting better and better over time.
We also faced many administrative difficulties related to the launch of
our Kickstarter campaign.
8. Every start-up has its own “Recipe of Success”, what is
yours?
My main strategy is ‘trial and
error’ which is obviously quite risky in the case of a hardware product,
especially in the case of a shoe. Still, if you are working in a small start up and
you want to expand your business, you need to take the risk and try try try, you will fail
most of the times but will learn from every step.
9. What would you wish to young designers,
who just started their career, what they need to avoid, and where to “push”?
You have to believe that if you put a
great amount of effort in something, sooner or later you will see the results.
If you put in the work, people in this business notice and appreciate it. It is
also extremely important to really believe in the products you are creating even if some others are having doubts about it.
There is so much pressure to fit into a mold but you don’t necessary have to.
10. And how can you imagine your career in 5 years? Your plans
and expectations for the short future?
I
hope that there will be loads of people all over the world wearing and loving Pikkpack.
I would love to run my own successful design studio and work with a team of
creative people who believe in Pikkpack.
Photo credits:Krisztina Filep
Photo credits:Krisztina Filep