Ten Minutes with Souraya Karami

Souraya Karami is an architect—an architect that architects shoes. Her London-based company, Esska is on the brink of taking the American market by storm. She is inspired by the streets and buildings of London and translates this into the rounded toes and rubber heels of her shoes. Souraya believes in inner beauty and the concept of feeling good. Now that’s something we all can believe in.

Oligoville: What is your product and what are your price points?

Karami: I design urban shoes. The prices of my shoes range from $130 to $180 and the boots are from $200 to $240.

Oligoville: Describe your target customer.

Karami: She’s an urban woman who walks everywhere. She’s self-confident and craves comfort and beauty. She is not a fashion victim, and lives to create her own style.

Oligoville: When and how was your brand born?

Karami: I had the idea to start my own shoe brand a long time ago. My friends and I were constantly struggling to find shoes we liked. All the shoes we found were overly designed, overly feminine, or overly masculine. We needed shoes that we could wear during the day and throughout the night. The idea stayed in my mind for a long time. I finally decided to shift careers and study shoe design. I graduated in June 2005 from Cordwainers in London, and started my business a year later.

Oligoville: What inspires your designs?

Karami: I am an architect. I studied, graduated, and worked in architecture for several years. Clearly, it influenced my designs. I love lines, whether they are straight and parallel (straps, which I use a lot) or curved and fluid. They are always represented in the patterns of the shoe.

I get inspired from everything around me—buildings, crossings, streets, maps, everything …

My designs are bold and clean. I don’t use embellishments. It is the pattern and use of materials that makes the design. I love mixing materials.

Oligoville: How have your designs evolved since you started your company?

Karami: I experiment more now. I think my style is still the same, but I like to experiment more with different materials, shapes, heels, and fastenings. Plus I know what sells, so I try to make a balance between what is a good seller, and what is a window piece—it works.

Oligoville: What accomplishment are you most proud of?

Karami: Being able to finally wear shoes that I like. Seeing my friends wearing them (and they are hard to please!) and raving about them … Surely I am very proud and happy I managed to get where I am in two years, but the best feeling is wearing my shoes.

Oligoville: Tell us about some unexpected set backs you have faced since starting your business and what you have learned from that.

Karami: Production delays. I could not control it, and it affected my delivery date to my clients. I learned that it is does not always go as planned, but you work around it and make the best out of it.

Oligoville: What advice do you have for other aspiring designers out there?

Karami: You can do it. You have to be determined and committed. Plan properly—it is not only design, it’s business.

Oligoville: Name three things you cant live without?

Karami: My laptop, a good cup of coffee (most probably made by my husband or myself), and a bed.

Oligoville: The fashion police would give you a ticket for …

Karami: Wearing my husband’s jumper! (Right now!)

Oligoville:What is your favorite music genre?

Karami: Trip hop, Rock, Hip Hop.

Oligoville: Where do you like to shop?

Karami: Independent boutiques.

Oligoville: You would love a one-way airline ticket to …

Karami: Hmmm … I am quite happy where I am but I would not mind a round-trip ticket to the Seychelles.

Oligoville: Who is your favorite style icon?

Karami: I am not sure, probably Kate Moss.

Oligoville: If you were not a designer, what would you be?

Karami: A writer.

Oligoville: If Hollywood made a movie about you, who would play you?

Karami: Miranda July.

Oligoville: Tell us about any exciting current events regarding your brand.

Karami: My Spring/Summer 2009 collection is looking great! I am expanding slowly in the US. Anthropology has placed an order for their Web site as well as boutiques in NY, Denver, Atlanta, Seattle, and Portland. I am very excited. I sense that Esska will do great in the US!

Souraya’s designs speak to my soul. They are timeless yet hip and sophisticated yet urban. Most of all, her shoes are comfortable. I can wear them all day in the office, all night on the dance floor, and all the way home the next morning. Her homepage says, “I love owning shoes, even if I don’t wear them all.” (Amen sister—amen.) I’d love to own all of Esska’s shoes, but the difference with me is I would wear them all.

Up, Up, and Awayyyy!!!!

I wish I were a bird. I wish I could fly high and spy on all of earth’s creatures. Unfortunately, I’m a human. When I do my pilates arm exercises my boyfriend jokes that I’m about to launch into flight, but that’s yet to happen. The closest I’ll ever get to my seagull dreams is by donning a Pluma feather headband.

California girls Kathryn and Jessica got so many compliments on their pheasant crafted headgear that they started their own business. Their headbands are uniquely handcrafted and sassily sophisticated. This necessary accessory accentuates any trendster’s features and ensures your most fashionably fabulous foot is going forward. The best part is that Pluma fans swear that these headbands are headache free. At $48 I already bought two.

Next time I do pilates arms I’ll sport my feathered headband and see if I really can reach the clouds (or at least the top shelf of my kitchen cabinet).

Ten Minutes with Lara Miller

Lara Miller’s Chicago-based, self-named company is all about sustainability and fun. Her designs keep women comfortable yet stylish and take you from the office to out on the town. Lara trademarked the FLIP® Line, a garment that can be worn in a variety of ways to promote your own individuality. Her work has been recognized by numerous renowned by publications including Lucky Magazine and Good Housekeeping. Her pieces are geometric yet organic and flirty yet sophisticated. She beautifully blends neutral colors and classic cuts into unique creations. She encourages customers to “wear it your way”—I’ll definitely be wearing Lara Miller my way.

Oligoville: What is your product and what are your price points?

Miller: I make womenswear—environmentally friendly, yet contemporary womenswear. I’d call is sustainably stylish. I use a lot of hand loom bamboo and hand loom knits in general. Our average retail price ranges from $250–$300.

Oligoville: Describe your target customer.

Miller: She’s a young professional in her mid-thirties. There’s a huge range in my customers, their ages range from twenty to seventy years old.

Oligoville: When and how was your brand born?

Miller: In 2002, I went to p.45 for a job. I was a senior making different, unique pieces. They didn’t have a sales position, but they liked my outfit. They offered me a trunk show at the Coyote Arts Festival in Bucktown, Chicago. It ended up launching my line. I went in there not knowing what to expect and I left with a bunch of new orders. I started making garments for p.45 when I was finishing school and I kept doing it after graduation.

Oligoville: What inspires your designs?

Miller: My inspiration roots in architecture and forms seen in the city. One paper architect, Greg Lin uses animations for ideas. He believes that buildings should echo the movement of the body makes, and visa versa—bodies can’t help but to echo that movement. I make my garments take life once on the body. Now my designs tend to be more commercial and focused on hanger appeal. I’m inspired by allowing somebody to wear a piece and make what they want out of it, they can flip it upside down and reverse it.

Oligoville: How have your designs evolved since your started your company?

Miller: They’ve gone from being conceptual to wearable. Spring 2008 is more focused on hanger appeal. I now pay attention to trends. Not enough so pieces lose their timelessness, but enough so I appeal to wider audience. I’ve always been environmentally friendly. When I started people didn’t want organic cotton, people automatically said hand loom bamboo was too hippie. That started to change in 2008.

Oligoville: What accomplishment are you most proud of?

Miller: I’m just proud of my company in general. Being able to take it international—to Tokyo and the fact that it’s still running.

Oligoville: What advice do you have for other aspiring designers out there?

Miller: For designers brand new out of school, first get a job before you start your own line. I had to learn a lot on my own dime and I faced a lot of struggles. It definitely is a life choice not just a job. You can get through a lot of it if you realize that. Also, don’t start without a good sense of funding because there is no way you can maintain without cash. Try looking into alternative sources for funding. You’re going to be doing a lot of stuff yourself. Be prepared to wear a lot of hats.

Oligoville: Name three things you cant live without?

Miller: Origins pinch your cheeks, desserts, and running

Oligoville: What in your mind is the number one worst fashion crime?

Miller: I try to not be too judgmental about people’s fashion choices because any expression of individuality is cool in my book. I’d have to say clothes that are too small for you just make me feel uncomfortable—mostly because they probably are uncomfortable too.

Oligoville: Where do you like to shop?

Miller: I don’t really shop anymore. I haven’t bought anything since I started my line. I love Cri de Coeur, a vegan shoe line. The only thing I’ve bought is running clothes! I also love Rusfelt jewelry. Other sites I love are Greenloop.com, pivotbotique.com, btc.com, and nimli.com.

Oligoville: You would love a one-way airline ticket to …

Miller: I’m kind of obsessed with Chicago. I’d take a round-trip to Fiji, a little vacation wouldn’t be bad! I can’t imagine any other place I’d rather be—it’s home. People here are so supportive of the industry, there’s no sense of competition. It’s a great community; I don’t want to leave.

Oligoville: Who is your favorite style icon?

Miller: To be totally honest, I look through people on Facebook for style tips. I’m looking at what they’re wearing because they’re living my target market. There isn’t one celebrity I look to and see what she’s doing. I’d have to say somebody like Maggie Gylenhall or Julianne Hall as they have made some neat choices and always stick to individuality.

Oligoville: If you were not a designer, what would you be?

Miller: I’d be a neuro researcher. I’d love to be involved in psychology or sociology research. I have a strange obsession with fear responses.

Oligoville: If Hollywood made a movie about you, who would play you?

Miller: People say I look like Sandra Bernhard. I have a crass sense of humor once in awhile.

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