Hanna Piipponen – Master shoemaker, entrepreneur and visual artist

I am Hanna Piipponen, master shoemaker and visual artist. I have spent the last eleven years concentrating on shoemaking.

As a visual artist I continually felt something was lacking, and when I sought to broaden my experience by trying shoemaking, I immediately fell in love with making shoes. Shoes swept me away.

I am always in motion, and I find it very difficult to be idle. Shoe making involves many different stages, different tasks for the hands and the brain. When making shoes I work with lines, colors and three-dimensional shapes. I am happy that I can be creative, playing with ideas, shapes and colors in my shoemaking arena.

I believe that tradition can stand being modified, and ancient models can enter the world in new form. I chose Pikitikki as my brand name because I want to preserve tradition in my work, sewing my creations by hand with pitched thread that I have prepared myself.