A local shoe designer has won the top prize in an international footwear design contest recently held in Guangzhou City, China.

The shoes designed by Duong Ngoc Lan Chi from Anlac Footwear Joint Stock Co (Alsimex) beat 180 others to win the first prize in the 5th International Footwear Design Competition.

They were among 14 pairs of shoes from 9 local designers picked by Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso) for the contest early this year.

Chi’s work won both the first prize in the overall contest and the women’s shoe category, according to Lefaso. There were five categories including men’s shoes, children’s shoes and sport shoes.

Four others, all from Alsimex, were also announced as prize winners in the contest, said Lefaso.

Chi’s colleague, designer Tran Phuong Tam, won the first prize in children’s shoe category with a design imitating a sport car.

The contest, organized by 12-member Asian International Footwear Association from May 30 to June 1, attracted 181 shoe artworks from 9 countries including Malaysia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Germany, Thailand, China, Taiwan and Vietnam.

It aims to find talented shoes designers regionally and build up qualified shoes designing team meeting international standard for each member country.

Alsimex was established in 1987 as a division of Saigon leather-footwear factory.

In 2009, Alsimex decided to shift its focus to the local market by targeting various segments with different types of products after EU legislators imposed anti-dumping tariffs on its products.