Finally, I’m back with a new episode of The Glam Observer Podcast! Today’s episode is really good! You’ll learn EVERYTHING to start a shoe brand. Today’s guest is the fantastic Alejandra G, the founder, designer and CEO of her shoe business Alejandra G. Her shoes are amazing and loved by so many celebrities such as Kylie Jenner, Tyra Banks, Shakira, Demi Lovato, and many more.Â
In this episode, Alejandra will tell us everything from how she went from her music and TV job to building her shoe brand. She moved from LA to Milan for one year, to attend a shoe design school and then when she came back she started building her empire.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- how she quit her job to start her shoe brand
- the whole process from the idea to the real wearable shoe
- what you need at the beginning to launch a shoe business
- how to build a fashion brand when you don’t know anyone and have no experience in fashion
- why you need an agent
- how to sell wholesale at famous department stores
- her tips to start your shoe brand and where to start from
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About her career before her shoe brand
I’ve always known I wanted to be a shoe designer. I’ve always loved fashion. Running a fashion brand is very expensive, so I had to save money. I ended up working in the music business, I had known people in the TV production business, so I ended up working there. At that time I saved for seven years, so I quit my job and enrolled in the fashion course. I had a dream one night, and it was all of the shoes. So that’s when I realized I had to focus on shoes and not clothing. The following day I bought my first sketching paper and started creating the shoes I saw in the dream.
When I quit my job and I told everybody like my family, that I was going to be a shoe designer, everybody looked at me like I was crazy as I didn’t know anybody in fashion. And I said: No I’m going to do this, I’ll figure it out. And I did.
Why she went to Milan to study shoe design
“He said to me: you need to go to the best shoe design school in the world which is in Milan, Italy. Are you ready to go there?” I said “absolutely.” “First you need to visit one of the factories in the country to understand what’s like being a shoe designer and that’s is not just about the design.” So I flew to China and went to the factory for two weeks, and when I came back, I told him I wanted to go to Milan to the shoe design school. Four months later I started my course in Milan. I went to shoe design school in Milan in 2011, and  I came back to LA in 2012. I chose Milan because is one of the fashion capital and where there are the best artisans in the world.
You have to understand how to create shoes from scratch, the cutting, the pattern, the cutting, the fitting. You need to create a wearable shoe, so you need to understand the fitting and not just create design shoes.
In any field, being as knowledgeable as you possibly can is always the smartest thing you do.
It will take you apart from other people. Attending a shoe course can be very expensive. You don’t have to go to school but at least take online courses, there are online information, books.  Get educated.
You can’t create anything you want. It has to make sense and be workable and wearable.
About how she decided the style of her shoes
It’s like art for me. I wanted to do something that stands out if I just did plain shoes how I could stand out from other designers? I want the shoes to be the main accessory of your outfit. You put your clothes around my shoes.
About launching a fashion business when you have no experience, and you don’t know anyone
Start working at a major fashion brand before launching your own business and learn everything possible: the factories, how to do collections. So when you want to start your brand, you won’t waste so much money because you’ll know what you’re doing.  I never wanted to work for another designer because I didn’t want someone to make money out of my creativity.
Being a designer is hard, but being a CEO and a designer is crazy.
About selling wholesale and online
When I first started, I started my website and also did wholesale, and I was in a bunch of department stores and famous online stores. I still do wholesale, but I’m focusing on my online presence. It’s great to be in stores because you get exposure, but right now I’m open to do wholesale, but I’m focused on my e-commerce.
How did you get the contact to get your brand into stores and what did you tell the buyer to convince them to sell your shoes?
When I first came out, I got a lot of press. I hired a PR firm, and my shoes were all over the place. I was featured on every big fashion magazine. So the buyer contacted me directly. Having a PR firm is a great way to having your brand out there, to press, stylists, celebrities and that gave me credibility. I found a shoe rep, and he is the one that knows all the buyers. He makes appointments at the trade shows.
Her tips for those who want to start a shoe brand and where to start fromÂ
Learn as much as possible not just about the design part, know how much money you’ll need, the business side, know what is going to be your price point, do you want to do wholesale, retail. Do a small business plan so you have a glue of where you want to go. Know who your customer is. Have an agent and a factory and go from there.
For more tips listen to the full episode on Itunes and SoundCloud. If you liked the episode, please subscribe, tell a friend and leave us a review on iTunes 🙂 Screenshot the episode and tag @glamobserver and I’ll repost it on our Instagram stories
