New Year, New Blog?

Well no, not quite. But new me for sure! I haven't blogged in so long it feels so weird to be sitting here on my new couch in my new apartment... blogging. I miss you guys. I miss blogging.


Let's play catch up in case you're new here or it's been a while.


My life has changed in the following ways:
* I am now a 30 year old divorcee. Shitty.
* I moved out of my home (for obvious reasons) and am now renting an apartment a town over
* I lost about 10 lbs (yay) from stress and depression (boo) but am now getting into a happy place which means it's on it's way back on my body (BIG boo, but yay for being happy)
* I made my TV debut a few weeks back on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
* I am learning the joy of buying less expensive shoes. Less $ = more shoes! DUH!

My old shoe set up was pretty cool...

Packing my shoes wasn't as fun.

Ok, so.... Let's start fresh with a little about me.

Hi! I'm Celine Ouaknine. 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 (right), 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, True Religion Footwear, Joe's Jeans Footwear, and Adrienne Maloof 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, Adrienne Maloof 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!

Betsey Johnson and I backstage before her runway show <3

Gwen Stefani and I after a L.A.M.B. runway show <3

Mark Badgley, James Mischka and I at a Nordstom personal appearance. Two of the NICEST guys you'll ever meet <3

So thats me, more or less.

My new shoe set up? Well OK since you asked... Here's a sneak peak but I'll be doing a full post on my new apartment soon.

:)

So stay tuned. 2012 is going to be a good year... Thank you all for your continued kind words and support. It really means so much.

LOVE and kisses,

Bebe Glitter Wedges at 25% off!

Hey guys! Hurry over to bebe.com now to get 25% off the bebe glitter wedges designed by yours truly ;)
I LOVE mine in pink and am thinking of getting them in black or gold too. They're perfect for holiday parties... or a quiet night in. Ha!

UPDATE!
They are also on sale at Zappos.com and they have WAY more colors and sizes! Search for "bebe Omega"

XOX,

Bebe Glitter Wedge!

It's FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!!!! You guys have asked and asked and I promised I'd keep you updated. :) Bebe online now has the Ophelia glitter wedge in stock online.

Hurry! ;)

I love mine....

XOX,

Bebe Fall 2011 Runway Show

I don't really do runway coverage since I figure you guys can go to one of the big blogs for that... UNLESS it's a show that I designed the shoes for! Like this one :)

These runway shoes are part of my first collection for bebe. They picked this pointy toe pump in lots of bright colors. Cobalt, Red, Fuchsia, Yellow and Black- all with silver metal heels and toe caps.

It's hard to tell from the photos but the pumps are cut super low on the inside... SO sexy! What do you think about pointy silhouettes making a big comeback??

This dress is so cool...

I love how feminine and flirty the bebe collection looks. With that perfect edge of rocker chic. I'm excited to be working with them and am loving their direction!

The boot below is my favorite shoe in the whole collection! I wish there were better photos of the shoes :( I'll try to get some asap...

Bebe Launch Party

Hello friends! Sorry for the lack of posts- I was in NY for the show and then had a beautiful sunny weekend at home. :)

Images from our bebe launch party have been uploaded to WireImage! Here are some of them.

(Fellow designer, Jessica Lu and Me)

(My dad, owner of Titan Industries and me)

(Bebe founder Manny Mashouf and my dad, Joe Ouaknine)

(My friends Ana Feoktistoff and Liz Benzing- designers of Coach and BCBG- respectively)

(All images: WireImage)

It was really fun and we had a good turn out. The catering company we hired was AMAZING. All the food was delicious and even better- the all male wait staff were models or something because these boys were HOT! Hot boys always make for a good time. ;)

Oh- and did you notice my beautiful new peep toe boots? My one and only purchase in NY this trip. They are Miu Miu and I love them! I'll take better pictures later cause they are super cute.

Twitter was down that night but I was trying to invite all my readers in NY to come. Stupid internet!

Good News for bebe Fans!

So I can finally tell you the news, since it's officially public:

July 27 (Reuters) - Mall-based women's apparel retailer Bebe Stores Inc (BEBE.O) said it entered into a five-year licensing agreement with Titan Industries Inc to design, manufacture and distribute non-casual footwear for women.

The Brisbane, California-based retailer said the new bebe shoe collection will be sold in bebe stores in the United States and Canada as well as select specialty and department stores worldwide from early spring 2010.

The shoes will be priced in a range from $89 to $169 at retail stores, the company said in a statement.

Titan was created in 1998 for the sole purpose of licensing shoes under the bebe brand, Titan's Chief Executive Joe Ouaknine said.

Yaaaaaa buddies! Bebe is going to back in Department stores! We are very excited at Titan to be back "in bed" with the brand that WE started! Hooray! Something you wont hear anywhere else? The designer is the same designer as our LAMB shoes! Exciting, no??