Edwin Neo

What it means to be a footwear designer of Ed Et Al

How did your experience at MasterFix Services help you at Ed Et Al?
Shoe repair gave me a very deep understanding of footwear. By disassembling and assembling shoes, I got to learn how they are made, what components are inside and why they are inside. This is why all our apprentices start off at Ed Et Al by servicing post-purchase shoes.

What are some of the difficulties you faced while starting Ed Et Al?
The most difficult part was the lack of auxiliary support. In the shoemaking industry, it’s not just about the shoemakers. There is also the upper maker, the finders, the suppliers. In Singapore, there were few to none of those. We had a hard time finding the right leather, tools and other supplies needed to make shoes. In many cases we had to compromise until we could afford, or find, suitable alternatives.

What does it mean for you to be a footwear designer in Singapore at this time?
It is a very appropriate time for us simply because Singapore used to be a shoe manufacturing hub. At the Geylang and Kallang area, there were shoemakers and shoe suppliers everywhere until the 1980s when people started turning to Malaysia and eventually China. The difference is that now we are moving from a model of high output and low value to one of low output and high value. At Ed Et Al, we produce fewer but higher-quality products that are of greater value.

Ed Et Al