The Shoe Girl's Blog: Harajuku Lovers brand's First Retail Store!

6.29.2009

Harajuku Lovers brand's First Retail Store!

So I'm back and I have a bunch of stuff to blog about but I want to start with this! They just opened a Harajuku Lovers store in Taiwan and it is seriously cute. They carry the clothing line, the handbags, the fragrance line and of course... the shoes! Check it out.

Whoever did the store layout did an amazing job. It's like stepping into a giant HL perfume box or something. So cute. All the little details are like perfect little touches. And how cute it the staff?

I wonder if any more of these retail stores will pop up anywhere else? I'm sure Japan would be a logical place for one... There are like 15 Kitson boutiques in LA, I'm sure they could lend them one of those as a HL boutique. ha.

Well, I wish them luck!

9 comments:

Denysia said...: I'm following you! I just love the shoes you have on! :); June 29, 2009 2:58 PM
MsVeve said...: love the ceiling lamp/light whatever.so cute!!

inyourfacefashion.blogspot.com; June 29, 2009 3:35 PM
Life99 said...: Damn that's a fly store! Should be my closet! How freakin' cool!; June 29, 2009 4:05 PM
d said...: Wow what a whimsical layout and design... lovin' it.; June 29, 2009 5:11 PM
Lyndsea Tim Tim said...: I wish this were in LA!; June 29, 2009 6:56 PM
Jessie P said...: Rad!! I see your shoesies!; June 29, 2009 8:36 PM
Meho said...: omg it looks sooo cute, i wish i could go there.

Meho xx; June 30, 2009 2:15 AM
ewbetchgtfo said...: oh my goddddd!! that is the cutest store i have ever seen!!!; June 30, 2009 8:17 AM
Anonymous said...: They've closed down the store already.; March 2, 2010 10:11 AM

Bio (blah blah blah...)

So, a little about me and why I think I can call myself The Shoe Girl.

My name is Celine and I grew up in Huntington Beach, California. I like to joke that I was born in high heels, and although that's obviously not true, I was born with the love of shoes in my blood.
My father, a former professional soccer player, came to the US from Morocco in the 70's. He started off as a shoe salesmen and had a natural talent for it. He worked his way up and eventually co-founded a company called French Follies. They made cute little espadrilles and ballet inspired shoes. From there he went on to Guess and Charles David footwear, where he eventually became President of the company and brought it to its height of popularity in the late 80's.

I was so lucky to grow up around shoes. I was the only girl in the 8th grade wearing the kick ass ankle boots Guess was famous for... and remember those Guess jellies?? Yep. I had those too. And at a whopping hundred bucks a pair, let's just say I made a lot of new friends when I came to school in those! That's the first time I felt the power of a hot shoe.

In the 90's, my dad left Charles David/Guess Footwear to pursue a new venture... Bebe Footwear! It was his first shoe license, and it was super successful. Soon after he started his own line with his namesake, Joey O. Since then his company has held the exclusive licenses for L.A.M.B. Footwear, Harajuku Lovers footwear, Charles Jourdan footwear, Laundry by Shelly Segal footwear, Antik Denim footwear, Playboy footwear, Zinc foowear, Hale Bob footwear, Badgley Mischka footwear, Mark and James by B.M. footwear, Betsey Johnson footwear, Betseyville footwear, Jill Stuart footwear, JLO Footwear, and True Religion Footwear. Awesome, right!? :) did I type "footwear" enough?

So... like I said, shoes are in my blood! I realized this at an early age, when I would go into my mom's closet and pull out her shoes and clear off my book shelves, fill them with shoes, and put a sign up that said "Shoe Show". I didn't really know what it meant, other than that was where my dad was always flying off to. Shoe shows. I wanted to be a part of it!
I went to design school in Milan, Italy when I was 20. My professors at Ars Sutoria taught me all about making shoes, including sketching, pattern making, leather tanning, and lots of technical shoe stuff. It was intense.

From shoe school to designer! After graduating from my shoe program I went back home and started working as the assistant to the designer of my dad's company, Titan Industries. At the time, we were only making bebe and Joey O Footwear, and were about to go after our second license, JLO Footwear. I was a part of that project and I loved it! It was so exciting putting what I had learned to use. I was off to China and working my butt off. I was the assistant to our head designer for a little over a year when I got offered the job of taking over as the designer for Playboy. It wasn't anything I had ever thought I would do, but it was a chance to be my own designer! No more assisting!!! I took it! Then, a few months after accepting the position as designer for Playboy, I was offered another line; Zinc footwear! I took it!!! I loved working with Zinc. The clothing was cute and the shoes were much more "my style". Later still, I was given the job as designer of JLO footwear.

I launched the debut collection (and every collection thereafter) for Harajuku Lovers in August 2008, and in May of 2009 I took over as designer of Betsey Johnson footwear until Steve Madden bought out the company in October of 2010.

Currently I'm designing for Bebe footwear and just launched my own line, Cece L'amour, which I am very excited about.

I love my job! I get to work with shoes every day. It's my job to look at shoes in magazines, online, in stores, and on the streets. It's a dream job honestly, and I feel lucky every day. My obsession is my job... So cool!

So anyway, here I am. Here's my blog. I hope you've enjoyed reading it so far. It's been fun for me and I hope that shows. :)

6.29.2009

Harajuku Lovers brand's First Retail Store!

9 comments:

My Life in Heels