IT?S easy to see why Carrie was won over by the walk-in closet in the ?Sex and the City? movie: it had a huge shoe cabinet.

However, not all women are lucky enough to have a Mr. Big in their lives (or at least a giant closet space they can afford), so they have to make do with stacking their shoeboxes one on top of the other.

However, keeping shoes in their original boxes poses a problem. It?s hard to figure what shoes are kept inside, unless you have the memory of an elephant. Playing a daily guessing game can leave you with a stack of opened, scattered boxes at the end of the week, because few people have time to obsessively organize clothes on a daily basis.

This is something 24-year-old Vincent Albert Lantin, creator of The Clear Shoebox Project, hopes to remedy.

?When I was a child, I used to hoard all the boxes we had at home,? he says. ?I didn?t have Lego toys to play with, so I had to improvise using my imagination. Then in early 2008, I saw the plexiglass shoeboxes by Japanese designer Nao and thought, hey, why not have something similar in the Philippines??

He adds, ?It also helped that my mom loves shoes. She was my first client.?

Lantin, who is a sophomore at the Arellano Law School, says his boxes aren?t limited to keeping shoes.

?I?m more into boxes than shoes. The clear shoe boxes I own contain all sorts of clutter from my room such as cameras, necklaces, DVDs, eyeglasses, medicine, ballpens and chargers. Everything is easier to find now.?

Investment

While the boxes don?t come cheap?each box sells for 75 pesos each, with a 5-peso discount if you buy more than 20?Lantin believes they?re a worthwhile investment for women who seriously love their shoes.

?Some women, especially those with huge shoe collections, are hesitant to make this big an investment for their entire collection,? he says. ?But they don?t realize the perks of having clear shoe boxes. My clients do not have to guess which shoe is inside which box anymore.?

He points out, ?Before The Clear Shoebox Project, clients would either: a) Take photographs of their shoes and stick them on the boxes, b) Cut a window in the box and cover it with cellophane, or c) Just leave all their shoes fanned out on the floor, thus consuming space and collecting dust.?

Lantin is also planning to produce a line of clear boxes for men, boxes for bags, and boxes for flip-flops. But for now, he?s making dozens of women happy by keeping their precious shoes neat, dry and organized.

Contact The Clear Shoebox Project at 09178811610; email csbp@rocketmail.com; or visit http://clearshoeboxproject.multiply.com

Email the author at biancaconsunji@yahoo.com