The Shoe Girl's Blog: Working away...

7.15.2011

Working away...

I'm slaving hard, mixing sugar and spice and everything nice to make you the sassiest girliest shoes I can!!

Here are some shots from my workshop in China... Be home soon. Can't wait!!

Choosing materials is so fun and overwhelming! There are so many to choose from

This is my fitting table. A shoe model comes in, tries on the prototypes, and my technician and I correct the lines and the fitting. :)

Poor little rejects. I'm sorry you didn't make the cut!

Leather colors and inspiration tears! My cork wall is my favorite.

See you guys in a few days. I'm almost done. Hopefully I can share much more soon. I hate keeping secrets from you guys!!

Love and kisses,

21 comments:

Dominique said...: So exciting I really hope these will be affordable.; July 15, 2011 at 4:47 AM
TheShoeGirl said...: They will be!! About $120- $160 :); July 15, 2011 at 4:49 AM
Hooked on Shoes said...: Poor little rejected shoes!! What will happen to them??; July 15, 2011 at 5:30 AM
lizzie said...: ...but what haaaappens to the rejects? :(; July 15, 2011 at 5:54 AM
Anonymous said...: You should make the shoe from your previous post. Its totally adorbs and girly.; July 15, 2011 at 6:16 AM
chipsHH said...: Aww, to see those that were rejected... :'(

Can't wait to see some final projects, though :); July 15, 2011 at 6:41 AM
talktomyshoes said...: This is so very cool and exciting. I love the image of the colour swatches, I understand how it would feel impossible to just pick one.
Totally loving your blog, I can't wait to find out what comes next!; July 15, 2011 at 8:14 AM
Oh_Nuts! said...: What an amazing job! Lucky girl.; July 15, 2011 at 11:01 AM
Tariro said...: You have the BEST job ever! lol; July 15, 2011 at 12:17 PM
Maryjane said...: I sooooo want to dig through your reject box! Any size 7's??? ;-)

Maryjane xoxo; July 15, 2011 at 12:48 PM
Krizia said...: It's great to see what you're doing & that you're taking the time to keep us updated!

x Krizia

Shark Attack - Fashion Blog; July 16, 2011 at 9:23 AM
Benny said...: Where are the glitter bebe wedge shoes? I have been searching for months for themmm. Did I miss them! D:!!!!!!; July 16, 2011 at 4:57 PM
onestilettoatatime said...: Very interesting to see a bit of the process that goes into designing a shoe, it must be great to be able to live your passion.

http://onestilettoatatime.blogspot.com; July 18, 2011 at 2:34 AM
Anonymous said...: You have an incredible shoe collection! I keep finding amazing vintage shoes at the moment. www.stylecocktail.blogspot.com; July 18, 2011 at 2:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Its sad to see those lil rejects in boxes like that.Whatever does happen to the rejects?<3; July 18, 2011 at 3:47 PM
www.glamour-blog.com said...: Nice backstage pictures!! And poor shoes :O!; July 21, 2011 at 12:09 PM
cityiklan said...: Cityiklan
Iklancoffee
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iklan percuma Online Malaysia; July 21, 2011 at 6:40 PM
Jessica said...: I've been silently reading your blog and this is my first comment! I'm so excited to save up and buy some of your gorgeous shoes :) quick question where do the rejects go? Is that how Ross,TJMaxx etc. get all of their shoes? Thanks keep on blogging this fabulous blog!; July 21, 2011 at 9:04 PM
J. said...: So fun to see you at work! Good luck finishing up over there! :); July 22, 2011 at 2:08 PM
Vikki @ She Has Cute Shoes! said...: If I wasn't a teacher and I took a different path in life I would do what you are doing. :)

Your inspiration board has me drooling. Love colour and texture and pattern.

And just shoes in general.

I'm looking forward to seeing your collection.

Vikki @ She Has Cute Shoes; July 25, 2011 at 5:32 AM
JaySportoBoots said...: Your inspiration helps me please my gf, which is obviously a win (in my book anyway).

Does anyone have any experience of LONDON shoe shopping? Stopping in town with a girl mate for a bit and she wants some unique purchases - shes not visited London before so some great shops would be a touch!

Thanks!; July 28, 2011 at 8:41 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. :)

7.15.2011

Working away...

21 comments:

My Life in Heels