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,

Betsey Johnson Runway Show Spring 2012

I got a few tweets asking why I wasn't at Betsey's runway show yesterday. Well, for those who didn't catch my post, I'm no longer Betsey's shoe girl. :( Steve Madden bought out the company and along with it came the rights to make the shoes himself. 

I did however, check it out. I love and will probably ALWAYS love Betsey. Working with her was the highlight of my so far 7 year career in shoe design. I love her ready to wear as well. She's someone you can always count on for girly fun clothes that are never too serious. Sometimes not serious at all....

 ...classic Betsey.

Love love love this leopard print!

 Betsey's daughter Lulu made a cameo on the runway! Cute :)

I'm a little surprised at this one though. It's the McQueen scarf print, no?

 I love this!

I love a good bubble dress!

Her famous show ending cartwheel <3



Miss you Bets!
xox,

Spring? Is That You?

The California sun seems to think it's time for Spring. It's so bright and sunny out, yet not warm enough for shorts, skirts, and shoes like these...

(Shoes I designed for Betsey Johnson)

Unfortunately these ones were never made for the masses due to the buy-out :( Lame, I know.

Not to worry! We'll soon have shoes like this in my new and still yet to be named line! Thank you guys for all your suggestions BTW. You're awesome. I'll let you know what we're going with as soon as we clear it with the lawyers.

Stella LOVES shoes, like her mama.

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Hello 2011!

Well, it's already the 5th day of the new year and I'm finally making a post. Not a great start for the blog, but I've had a really great start to the year! I have a potential project coming up that could change everything so stay tuned!!

I'm leaving for China in the morning and I'll be there for a week working on Bebe and Rock&Republic and hammering out the details of this "potential project"... I'm super excited. :)

What are YOU excited about for 2011? According to some people it's going to be the last year of human existence so we better make it count! haha.
I want to make some changes to the blog this year. I'd like to add a store to sell my shoes and my friends shoes (who are hopefully different sizes than me) to give everyone a chance to get some great previously loved shoes. I also have some Shoe Girl shirts that some of you may be interested in!!

In 2011 all the Betsey Johnson shoes you'll see will be Steve Madden's Betsey Johnson shoes. There will be a noticeable difference... here are a few of my favorite shoes from the last collection I did that you may or may not see since we had to stop shipping in December. :( Boo hoo hoo.

  

Anyway, here's to a new year and exciting possibilities, and to your health and happiness!
Let me know if there's something you'd like to see more of this year. What are your favorite kinds of posts? Suggestions? I'd love to hear it.

xox

Reality... Shoe?

Right before I left for Europe we had a reality show filming at work. It was really fun actually, and though I can't tell you everything about it, I can tell you that it is a show created by the super talented Sam Mettler of Intervention and it's produced by Ryan Seacrest's RSP. It will air on A&E, though I'm not sure when.

On the show, I interview a potential designer... but that's it! That's all I can say ;)

We filmed in our showroom. Shoes shoes everywhere!

It was really cool to see how a reality show works. They hid a mic in my cleavage and after wearing it for a while I really did forget about it. I used to think it sounded funny when reality stars would say that they "forgot the cameras were there" but I guess I can see how that could be the case. 

I was so nervous at first, going about my business and pretending like I didn't see cameras filming me but after I got comfortable and used to the idea, I was able to be totally natural.

It was a really cool experience and I can't wait to see the outcome.

I wore my super sexy Louboutins. I love these shoes!

Talking about my latest (and sadly, last) collection.

Jackie at Laura Mercier did my makeup. Thanks girl!! She's really good so all you local girls, go visit her at South Coast Plaza :)

I can't wait to tell you more about it and I will as soon as I can!

Up next: Posts about my shopping trip to Europe!

Heart Broken

I've been sitting on this secret for a week now (which is why I've been slow on the posting and eating so much ice cream) but I just want to be the first to tell you guys that our company lost the license for Betsey Johnson. You may know that Betsey Johnson was having some financial issues and that Steve Madden got involved in the company to help out... I won't get into it but if you want to know more, go here, here or here or google it.

Steve's very capable company will be taking over the design and production for Betsey which means I am out of a job. A very amazing job that I feel very fortunate to have had.

Working with Betsey has been one of the best experiences of my career so far and I am so honored to have been her shoe designer. I think Betsey and I were a match made in cotton candy heaven and I will miss our meetings but will always feel like part of her world.

BETSEY I LOVE YOU!!!

Thank you for sharing your light with me! 

So what's next?? Stay tuned to find out! I still have Harajuku Lovers and I've heard rumors of some exciting stuff that may be headed my way :)


This is still the coolest thing ever... Sent to me from Betsey after our last collection.

With a heavy heart, 

Celine

Your Shoe Girl

XOXO

Save My Sole!

A few months ago a company called Kushyfoot contacted me about sending me samples of their products. Being the shoe whore shoe lover that I am, I told them that I would gladly check them out... well I sure am glad I did!
The product that I thought would be the most useful for me were their Flats to Go. They're super easy to stuff in even the smallest handbags and are a total life saver when you need them. They're a no-brainer and I wish I would have thought of them first!

I had them with me in my bag at all times during Fashion Week in New York in case of a shoe-mergency. 

They look Ok though I definitely wouldn't wear them as shoes on purpose. They're not ugly, just not "real" footwear and though they don't seem durable enough to last forever, at only $9 a pair... who cares! They get the job done. They lasted through Fashion Week and literally saved my feet numerous times. Think heels in the meatpacking district!! All those cobblestones? Forget it!

(image piedolatrie)

Princess Poochie and I both slipped ours on after the Betsey Johnson show on our way to the Stacy Lomman show. It was raining and we both felt like our feet were getting a bit soggy in them but they survived and they saved my precious Spine Heels from the wet streets. 

I think they should add these to women's restrooms at bars. Like, they should have a machine that has tampons, lip gloss, and disposable flats. Genius if I do say so my self. And I do. ;)




The product that sort of caught me off guard though were these Super Low Cut Foot Covers. Um... AMAZING. I am not exaggerating ladies. I will be wearing these with everything this Fall. They are a new ShoeGirl staple.
I almost overlooked them in my package of goodies they sent but when I was packing for New York I grabbed them just in case.
I usually use regular ped socks when I wear boots or any kind of lace up shoe but I have these pink oxfords that are low cut and a regular ped would show. So, I tried these out and I will never look back. They have padding on the ball of the foot and even more importantly, in the back... you know, where you usually get blisters from shoes rubbing if you walk too long? Not any more. And they're thin like tights so they don't make your shoe feel smaller. They're low cut enough that you can wear them with pumps if you want too!! They're total pedicure savers too which is a great bonus. I hate when I get pedis in the Fall and then wear a closed toe shoe that chips off my polish!

I love love love these and think you should check them out. You can find theme here at Kushyfoot.com or on Amazon.

Friends and Fashion Week, Part Deux!

I can't believe how crazy last week was!! It felt more like a month than a week and I am still totally exhausted.
I already told you about the first 2 days and here are the next two:

Sunday the 12th-
Started off the day with my favorite activity.... shopping. Then later, dinner with my sis and my very favorite blogger friends. Wendy B of Wendy Brandes, Princess Poochie of Shoe Daydreams, and Jennine of The Coveted.
We had so much fun it was almost surreal. We had delicious pizza and wine and talked about things like my new Wendy B swear rings, Jennine's amazing forte into the shoe design world and our plans for a flash mob and a possible new website. Total top secret. ;) It was a girls night out for the books. We had such a good time.


Monday the 13th-
First off- The Betsey Johnson runway show!! I was super excited to go and see my shoes on the catwalk. Do people still say catwalk? Whatever.
I was running late and couldn't get backstage for the pre-show excitement and photos. Sorry guys.

RIDE ME? Oh Betsey you nasty gal!! The theme of the show was Tour de Betsey... bicycles! Bets came out on a bike at the end but then got off of it to do her signature cartwheel. When asked she said "as long as I'm on the runway, I'm doing a cartwheel!" I love it!

It was a fabulous fun show, as always. Then backstage I went...

"Tell us Betsey... what was your favorite part about making this collection?"

"Working with my shoe designer, Celine!! She is so inspirational!!" 

haha

Betsey with Ciara. Two beautiful women :)

and the shoes!!!

(photos of models on runway- NY Mag the rest are my own)

Later that night......

Wendy invited my sister and I to see her friend and georgeous blogger Stacy Lomman's fashion show. I met up with Poochie after Betsey and we went together.

The show was beautiful and I was honored to be invited! My pictures were only OK so here are some I stole from Wendy...

Wendy's beautiful earring design

My favorite look...

The desiger

and her captive audience after the show

What a fun night!! I felt so inspired and was excited to see two completely different shows.
I wore my spine shoes and got lots of comments on them :)

....Ok so I was going to keep going but I'll have to continue again.... this is getting really long. Stay tuned for more and what I did the next few days!!! :)