Footwear Designer
ANIA Footwear
ANIA Footwear is a brand that was created in August 2020. It aims to be as sustainable as possible, by providing its materials locally and avoiding the use of animal products as much as possible. Another mission of ANIA FOOTWEAR is to "educate" the consumer about the ethical practices of the fashion industry (and industrial production in general), by trying to raise awareness of fair pay to producers, and the life cycle of its products. In ANIA, I have worn many hats. I do the designs, coordinate sampling and production, search and source materials, take care of import/export account, follow up with client, create content and manage social media accounts.
For me, ANIA is an ode to the women of my family, as they inspire me for their strength, kindness, resilience and hard-working spirits.
SOLID is the first collection on ANIA's portfolio. It is intended to have timeless shoes, with basic colors, that are meant to be used for any occasion. For this collection the main material is manufactured by a mexican company called Desserto. The materials were tested for the first time in December 2020, having two rounds of samples before the finished design was settled.
The collection has two models: COPE, an ankle boot, which is made in only two pieces. The upper is made with Desserto's cactus leather and for the lining, we use tricot fabric; and ANIA, a heeled mule, the upper is made only in one piece, made with Desserto's cactus leather and for the lining, we use a synthetic material with antibacterial properties.
DUO was the second collection in which I used the same upper design from COPE (in SOLID collection) with a twist of color, and had another model as a proposal designed in two different materials, Desserto's vegan leather and poly mesh, which I named CARMINA.
I also designed slides, but did not create a collection yet as I am working on the shoe lasts because my main concern is comfort, and at the moment the designs are still samples.
The website
ANIA Footwear had its own online store, designed with the help of a graphic design agency and managed by myself, I would update the products, layout, content and a small blog.
The website was created using Shopify as it was the best e-commerce platform, I could use the tools to measure the traffic of the website and know which model had the most views and was added the most to a shopping cart.
Currently I am waiting for the USPTO to approve the Trademark, process that started in June 2021. Soon ANIA will be a Registered Mark.
I've made the hard decision to put a hold on my personal brand (ANIA) in order to focus on developing my skills through work experience. I hope to work in teams where I can lean from the experience of others.