Anita Flavin: A Top-Notch Irish Shoe Designer and Fashion Entrepreneur Shares her Awe-Inspiring Success Story

Ms. Namita Nayyar: "Ennio Mecozzi" is a name to reckon with in the Ladies Luxury Footwear industry. Tell us more about it, what's its vision, speciality and how it was created?

Ms. Anita Flavin: Vision and mission of the company:

'It is Ennio Mecozzi's mission to create beautiful footwear for women of passion, power and substance to step out in and untie globally embracing their self-empowerment. In achieving this Ennio Mecozzi will lead the way forward for emerging designers to partner with Italian authentic artisans to create the luxury brands of the future'.

I am the Creative Director and Designer at Ennio Mecozzi. Ennio is a third generation artisan. This partnership is a unique combination which started as a small family company and is now growing rapidly and becoming a world famous brand that produces beautiful shoes. Our quality and design has been compared with the top footwear brands in the world, by those in the know! My role is devise and very exciting.

When designing a collection the woman I have in mind to wear Ennio Mecozzi for me is a beautiful woman of subsistence, passion and power. I connect with how she wishes to feel when she slips on Ennio Mecozzi, I appeal to the women I am designing for by ensuring the silhouettes I have designed for her are most flattering to the shape of her feet and legs, also appealing to her playfulness in the various design concepts. I touch her senses through fun, alluring and sophisticated combinations of colours, leathers and textures.

First I have a vision sometimes even a dream. I decide on the silhouette I will use. Then I compile a wish list, from places I visit which can be cities, resorts, museums, galleries, places of worship, countryside anywhere really, also books I read, movies I watch. Once I return to Le Marche I source my wish list by visiting leather tanneries, heel and accessories houses. In order to ensure my dream becomes a reality I visualise who the woman is, how she will feel when she slips the shoes on her feet, what occasion she will wear her shoes to and how she will style her shoes.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: An Uproar was created in the footwear industry when "Amal Clooney stepped out in Ennio Mecozzi". Tell us more about this celebrity selection of your brand of luxury footwear?

Ms. Anita Flavin: I design footwear for 'Women of Passion, Power and Substance' when I was putting together our brand ethos and who is the woman that would wear Ennio Mecozzi, Amal Clooney was at the top of my creative board. In creating the brand ethos I kept going back to Amal as to me she represents women of passion, power and substance which lives inside every woman all over the world, although some women in the world are more privileged than others to be able to access their true attributes. I introduced Ennio Mecozzi to Mrs Clooney and she researched our company and placed orders with us. Since then I have networked with many international women's organisations that resonate with our brand ethos and appreciate the quality and design of our footwear.