Porthia Tantivorawong
About
Porthia is a shoe designer specialising in the fashion footwear sector, where she designs and develops footwear collections for both luxury and high-street brands.
With over a decade of experience in the industry, Porthia works on creating the latest fashionable footwear while addressing prevalent issues within the sector. Footwear is a sub-section of the fashion industry that has the most impact on people’s health, yet many brands’ focus on footwear designs still evolves around appearance rather than functions such as comfort and safety.
Porthia pursued a Master’s in research in Healthcare and Design at the Royal College of Art in 2022. Her research thesis explored the health implications of footwear design and introduced the innovative concept of Sandware®, a shoe replicating the sensation of walking barefoot on the beach.
Throughout her research, Porthia collaborates with podiatrists, physiotherapists, and material scientists, and the prototype is tested at the Imperial College Musculoskeletal (Msk) Lab. Sandware® is a winner of the 2024 Patent Support Program by InnovationRCA. The project is currently undergoing the patent process in collaboration with Innovation RCA (July 2024).
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