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Whenever I went to a wedding or a party, girls kept complaining about their shoes. I love to dance, and I wanted them to have shoes they could keep on all night.
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I was lucky that I started very young, since I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to do. But my father is very conservative, and he never considered fashion to be a real career but something I could pursue as a hobby. He wanted me to be a doctor, and at one point, I thought of becoming a plastic surgeon.
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Shoes are very emotional. For women, they carry the message that you want to give to the world. One day you want to be sexy, or super powerful at your job - you wear a great pump. If you want to be on-the-go and running after your kids - you wear a great flat.
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I want to know who my client is. I see her on Instagram, but it's another thing to get to chat with her.
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I got a New York designer to build my dream store here, which is a little bit of Florence in New York. It's like the Duomo on Madison. I got inspired by Santa Maria Novella and all the Renaissance architecture.
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I love to see a woman in a sexy, strappy sandal no matter what. It just looks beautiful.
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I think every celebrity that I love wears my shoes. I'm a particular fan of Julianne Moore, and I adore Jennifer Lawrence. There are so many beautiful women. I love Poppy Delevingne, of course; I even made a collection with her.
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I wanted to create flats that are as chic as heels - flats you don't have to apologize for.
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The shoes and the eyes are windows to a woman's spirit.
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I've had many ideas come from clients.
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I went to department stores, and there was nothing that I really loved. All the shoes were too complicated, too crazy, too ridiculous, too extreme. The platforms were so high; the shoes were so ugly, covered in crystals and feathers and crap. I just thought, 'Maybe somebody wants a beautifully simple, sexy shoe that they can actually walk in.'
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I want to make shoes that a woman can walk in. That's kind of what they're made for.
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No one wears high heels all day, every day.
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I have so much fun because I love to meet the women who wear my shoes and meet the clients. That, to me, is the best part - getting to know the faces of the people who actually wear my shoes and getting to have a conversation with them.
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I've always wanted to create shoes that were positive and happy.
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No one needs anything; they have to want it.
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When I started out, the idea of comfort in shoes was almost a dirty word.
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We do high heels, and people know us for that, but the idea of wearing a flat from day to night feels special.
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For me, it's important that I can talk to my customers all over the world. They can comment on what they like, tell me what fits - we have a daily dialogue. I can also see what she looks like and how she wears my shoes, which is a huge advantage. Thank God for Instagram; it helps me keep connected.
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Sometimes you design a shoe, and you think this one is a winner, but you never know when something will be such a crazy phenomenon.
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When people take advantage of you and make a business out of it, that's not nice.
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Even though my shoes are different from Ferragamo's aesthetic, which is more classic, I learned the importance of fit and quality. We were making shoes like they used to, by hand, and I carried that with me.
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I personally approve all the shoes that go into production, and I have a level of involvement with the factories that other people don't have.
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Up until the 1960s, women would meet designers in their private ateliers, and together they would build a relationship and a wardrobe. Then, all of a sudden, designers disappeared into their own private bubble, and there was no communication.