Hand-painted shoes latest craze in town

The trend of wearing hand-painted shoes is fast creating a niche market for such items in the country.

Besides their exclusive designs, people can virtually have anything drawn to their liking on their shoes or even bags.

Happy Cutie House, an enterprise located here, far from the federal capital, is doing a roaring business with hand-painted items.

The enterprise owner, Yee Shio Fung, 28, who has her hands full with piling orders started the business with her aunt Ng Kah Sim, 43, as both have an interest in drawing.

"In Alor Setar, there is no such service available, so we decided to try our luck and it appeared to be the right decision as demand for painted shoes is growing daily.

"Hand-painted shoes are not only fashionable to the younger generation but even to adults. Our customers are not only from Kedah but from other states including Johor as we also sell through the Internet," she said when met by reporters, here.

Yee said although the trend was still new in Kedah, the response had been encouraging.

"Each month, we get bookings for more than 50 pairs of shoes apart from other canvas items such as hand bags, purses and even school bags and baby shoes.

"We do not limit the designs requested by our customers as they can choose any pattern or picture to be painted on the items.

"If they do not buy the items from our shop, they can also bring their own things to be painted," she said, adding that the enterprise began two years ago.

Yee admitted that it was not easy to produce a pair of hand-painted shoes as it required great attention to ensure the quality of the final product.

"The most difficult items are baby shoes as they are small and take a longer time to paint the motif compared to the regular-sized shoes," she said.

Yee who took up accountancy at a private college said in one day she could paint about seven pairs of shoes.

She said if the selected design was intricate and fine, it would take much more time compared to scenery or animation pictures.

Prices of such items start from RM40, depending on the designs.

"Although we produce various canvas products, painted shoes are more popular," Yee said.

She said they planned to expand their business with a wider variety of hand-painted products.