The Shoe Girl's Blog: Stop. China Time!

11.04.2011

Stop. China Time!

It's that time again. Time to go to China and make some shoes!!

If you aren't already, follow my Tumblr and/or Instagram to see my updates from Chinaland. Blogger is still blocked (LAME!) so those are my only ways of communicating with the outside world ;)

I'd like to do another behind the scenes so if you guys have any more questions- please ask away in the comments section! I'll get email notifications still ;)

Love you guys!!

XOX,

12 comments:

LA Lynn's said...: How Awesome is that!!!! I wish you could like stuff me in your suitcase! lol

Have FUN & Safe trip...; November 4, 2011 at 8:25 AM
Monni Swizzle said...: OMG have fun over there!

http://chonkosfoodandstyle.blogspot.com/; November 4, 2011 at 3:01 PM
talktomyshoes said...: Wooohooo!!!
Have a great time! I cannot wait to see the outcome.; November 5, 2011 at 6:58 AM
Sabina said...: What an awesome, dream project--hope you enjoy China!; November 5, 2011 at 12:10 PM
a t h i r a h said...: I just wanna know what happen to the rejected shoes? :); November 6, 2011 at 8:58 AM
mr ottawa footwear blogger said...: Wow good luck and have a safe trip there to China. Don't forget to update us. :); November 8, 2011 at 9:32 PM
Kheng Yu said...: Are you heading to other places besides China?; November 9, 2011 at 12:10 AM
L. said...: Have a lovely trip!!! :); November 10, 2011 at 6:05 PM
Bebe said...: Have a sage trip! Can't wait to hear about the unique clothing stores online you encounter. Thanks!; November 21, 2011 at 11:04 AM
Hannah said...: Late to the party but I would love to know about picking out different textiles for the uppers. Hope you're having fun.; November 22, 2011 at 1:03 AM
Hannah said...: Late to the party but I would love to know about picking out different textiles for the uppers. Hope you're having fun.; November 22, 2011 at 1:03 AM
Kate said...: Have a nice trip.; November 28, 2011 at 1:13 PM

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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. :)

11.04.2011

Stop. China Time!

12 comments:

My Life in Heels