Shoppers in the Borders town of Melrose have been peering curiously through a store window this month, where some unique shoes have been on display.

Cobblers of Melrose, in the market square, gave pride of place to a wide range of shoes designed and produced by 31 Earlston High pupils for the practical part of Standard grade art and design.

The pupils had a design brief to create a shoe based on an insect, bird, animal or reptile. They had to carry out market research before coming up with a shoe, boot or sandal.

The shoes were made using cardboard, Jeye cloth, PVA glue and high-density foam, either from scratch or by using the heel and sole of existing shoes. Pupils also studied the history of footwear and two shoe designers of their choice, and wrote a 2,000-word essay.

“The final shoes and boots show that the students worked extremely hard to produce some extraordinary ideas, which are not too far removed from designers such as Vivienne Westwood, Prada and Christian Louboutin,” said art and design teacher Carol Ann Burnside.