Who Made My Shoes?

The Freed of London ethos has always been to develop shoes to meet the needs of each generation, and we are thrilled to announce the release of our brand new Showstopper dance shoe, it’s flexible, comfortable and will allow you to dance freely knowing your feet are completely secure. But where did this shoe come from, and who exactly designed it? Well we have our very own London design team that works hard every day on the development and design of new products – we would love for you to meet them!

Bambos runs and manages the Ballroom design and manufacturing departments here at Freed of London, he oversees and partakes in new product development processes and ensures the shoes and designs are correct according to what customers want and need. Before joining Freed of London 6 years ago, Bambos had worked in shoe design, manufacturing and development for an impressive 45 years; it has always been a passion for him as well as a big part of his professional life. He currently lives in North London, which is also where he grew up, but he and his family originally lived in Cyprus until he was 2 years old. His favourite part about working in the dance shoe industry is seeing an idea come to life, an idea that really works and does everything you want it to do as well as looking great – and when it sells well it feels even better! Bambos says he would love to be able to dance, but for now it’s just a fun hobby.

Unn Oreberg is our in house designer, working in the studio located at the back of our London factory she is always part of the action and busyness of the design to manufacturing process. After graduating with a degree in footwear in 2014 from DMU, she embarked on her design journey, and after a few shoe based internships, she found her way to Freed of London about 4 years ago. Unn currently lives in South London, but has previously lived in Leicester, and Norway - where she grew up. She says the thing she loves the most about dance shoe engineering is that it poses completely new challenges in footwear design, it becomes less about the look of the shoe, and more about functionality – it’s far more fun that way. Finally, Unn was asked if she likes dancing – she said she barely has any rhythm, but loves dancing all the same!

Both designers were asked about the influences and choices made when it came to creating the Showstopper shoe. They said that they mainly took inspiration from what the dancers wanted and needed, adding extra straps, elastication and lining for added stability, flexibility and comfort. The showstopper also comes in colours brown, bronze, tan and black to be inclusive of all skin tones. Our shoes are always inspired by you, created by Freed.

The Showstopper is available now, and if you have any more questions for our designers, Bambos and Unn will be taking part in an Instagram AMA live stream next week on 3rd September 2021 at 2pm, be sure to tune in!