Top model quits catwalk to design shoes

INDONESIA: A successful modelling career is every young girl’s dream.

But former high-profile model Sasanti Paramita Rahayu, crowned Indonesia’s best model in 1987 at the age of 17, decided to turn her back on the catwalk and concentrate on designing shoes.

“After becoming a professional model, I realised that I was moving in a very small world,” said the 27-year-old former law student. “I’m talking of physical and mental restrictions, because one’s skin and figure becomes vulnerable to change as we grow older.”

Ms Sasanti’s name is today synonymous with fashionable women’s shoes in Indonesia.

She produces 80 pairs of shoes a week, making use of local leather and imported material from France and Taiwan. The open-heel handmade shoes cost between 95,000 rupiah (S$56.50) and 295,000 rupiah. – DERWIN PEREIRA.