DIY PRADA INSPIRED PLATFORM SNEAKERS

27th September 2011

Recently I had the pleasure of working with FOAM Magazine on a DIY project for their magazine (see here for their online post), a pair of raffia embellished creepers (aka platform sneakers).

I know I wasn’t the only person who fell in love with the prada platform brogues complete with raffia edging. I decided to get crafty and have a try at making a similar pair. Never one to copy something exactly, I made a black and white version to pay homage to the A/W monotone colour trend, and stuck with only a slight platform – you can always do more of a platform by adding more layers of foam if you like.

You’ll need:

A pair of lace up canvas sneakers (try a cheap shoe store or supermarkets)
Foam for the platform – I used a pair of old flip flops
2 shoe soles – I cut them off a very old pair of sneakers but you can also get them from a cobbler or buy an extra pair of canvas sneakers in a different colour.
Flexible glue and a hot glue gun
Raffia – I used plaited straw raffia from a craft store.
A stanley knife and sandpaper for adjusting shoes/foam for the platforms so they fit together.


Step 1. Glue the sole and the foam together using the flexible glue. Then glue the sneakers to the foam.
Step 2. Press the three layers together and let dry overnight. I weighed mine down with some bricks to apply the right amount of pressure.  
Step 3. Once the glue has dried, hot glue two layers of raffia around the edge of the shoes to completely cover up the foam. Make sure any join of the raffia is centred at the back of the shoe.
Step 4.  For a finishing touch I threaded the sneakers with the black laces from the old shoes I took the soles from. You could use any colour laces – neon would be fun!

And voila, your very own raffia embellished creepers!
Wearing: gifted J Brand Jeans, DIY raffia creepers, mens zara singlet (sorry boyfriend’s friend, you’re never getting it back), DIY gold pendant (tutorial to come!), Ebay Cat Eye sunglasses, studded pouch bag.