Cityseen | Local fashion designer's shoemaking workshop gives boost to dying art

When Kanchan Panjabi returned to Hong Kong in 2007, she started her own fashion line - Kanchan Couture. Her sense of style was mostly informed, she said, by a photo of her mother riding a bike in India in the 1960s. Her clothes and accessories retain a bold Indian influence, but are also shaped by her time living in New York and studying fashion in London.

On Friday, Panjabi is hosting a bespoke shoe workshop, partly to benefit her NGO, Atma, which works with other NGOs to provide education for the underprivileged in India. The event will also shine a light on Hong Kong's disappearing heritage, specifically its tradition of bespoke shoemaking.

To that end, Panjabi has teamed up with Shoe Artistry, a social enterprise that engages a handful of skilled traditional shoemakers who have been victims of Hong Kong's high rents and changing tastes.

The event will offer something for everyone, whether you are a fashion lover, looking to help the needy, or interested in Hong Kong's vanishing heritage. Or perhaps, in these economically uncertain times, you just want to learn how to make your own shoes.

The workshop kicks off at 6.30pm on the second floor of the Prosperity Building in Mong Kok. Tickets are HK$200, with half going to Atma.