After almost 4 years in Bologna, word is getting around that i'm an eco-shoe designer. An invitation arrived to open a temporary store in the heart of Bologna (literally under the Two Towers- Due Torre) at the Piazza della Mercanzia for the month of dec.  I'll be showing boots, platform mary janes, and short boots to the fashion conscious modaioli (fashionistas) who come to the centro to do their holiday shopping.
Dec 3th and 17th evenings, Kailia Footwear will have its debut with vegan aperitivi and drinks, also a shiatsu massage therapist on hand to relieve any shopping (or otherwise) related stress.  Eat, Shop and Massage..what could be better than that?
Come check us out- there will be designs by Vivian Lorca, Carlotta Fiorini and other guest designers- shoes, clothes, jewelry and accessories, all locally designed, handmade and unique pieces.
Piazza della Mercanzia, Bologna. tel: +39 320 341 0380
next to the store Timberland- ring bell under the name Zia Artistica.

I'm in Paris at the moment. Breathing in the incredible beauty surrounding me and feeling fabulously lucky that the sky has been an acquamarine shade of blue for the last 3 days.
Paris is a hot bed of createurs/creatrices- original designers brave enough to allow their products to reflect the true designer. I'm falling in love with Martin Margiella.  He's the anti-brand...letting his creations speak for him, but allowing the wearer to make it their own. his perfume is called "untitled", i never thought i would flip for a perfum like a school girl after her first kiss! (i'm more of a natural essential oil kind of gal). Pure genius!

I do have one gripe....If Mr. Margiellais reading this, please stop using fur and animal skins...though this does not take away his awe-inspiring talent to take a simple shape and re-invent something so new, so fresh and so unique, we as creator of products have a moral responsibility to be thoughtful of the materials we use.

I've noticed a lot of designer vintage boutiques and outlets. So maybe the parisians are also suffering from the economy? but they do it with such style.....biensur!

Who would have thought the Windy City (no, not san francisco, the OTHER wiindy city), would be in the running for one of the most Eco- Chic in the USA? a dynamo duo from LA, Bianca and Michael Alexander of Conscious Living TV have been stirring up some fashion noise for two years in a row.
They are the organizers of Vert Couture, 2010 is their second year.
Kailia has been the proud participant of this stylish swanky event. Though i wasn't there in person - it's a long way to fly from bologna to chicago, i saw through photos and vdos that it was a fabulous event!

I had to laugh when i saw the Chiara Boots (over the knee boot) on them lanky models came little above their knees.  Note to self- when i get to be a big company, i will make special boots proportionate to the giraffy legs of the models.

Oct 24 is the date for this years Vert Couture- if you are near Chicago, go check it out! I wish i was there...

well, i'm in Paris now and that's not a bad place to be either!

Oh i was so excited yesterday when Kailia site went live!  this is a culmination of months of work. collaboration between my brother clark (thanks again clark!), the whizes at SiteKreator who made this all happen (big thanks to Lenkov and nancy! to make this all possible).

what was the fuss about? it's about autonomy..the site was made by a pro when we first went live last year.  Flash and codes and all that techie stuff made me feel alienated from my own site. So the decision was made to un-flash the site (sorry to those who enjoyed the glowing logo), so i can make my own updates.  So please bear with me if you see imperfections. Drop me a line (write comment below)  with any comments.

hope you enjoy the new look of Kailia. we are also excited to present the new online shop so you can be in timbuktu and have a pair of Kailia arrive at your store steps...wait, does UPS deliver to Timbuktu?

Breathing seems like such a natural act...in and out and in and out....anyone born on this planet is programmed to breathe.

I, being a member of the planet earth, is no different.....although being in business dealing with people from all over the world and different ethics, i find myself often holding in my breath....from the smoke-addicted italians, to the stress of deadlines, to the amazing arrays of stunts i face everyday...

Believing not in coincidences, i am beginning to realize this incredibly colorful odyssey (starting Kailia) is not only about business; it's also about grace under pressure.  It's about tolerance, patience (a healthy dose of that), the importance of thinking positive, and it's a stern tester of one's faith.

Thanks to all my friends who kindly offer support and advice...you know what they say to me?  BREATHE.... simple and do-able..

So regardless of whether the sun is shining or storm raging, i shall keep on breathing.   In and out...In and out.

On this beautiful autumn morning, i've discovered....the air smells sweet!

Hi y'all,
No (wo)man is an island, we all need a little help now and then...Living in Italy and working with vendors from all over the world, puts me in a position to need help from my friends in different corners of the globe from time to time. this goes beyond business.....it shows the beautiful side of humanity that i'm privileged to witness from time to time.

This time we are in Chicago the windy city. My buddy Bianca Alexander from Conscious Living TV is the hero of this tale. 

I just discovered a wonderful material that is bio-degradable. working on a project with a tight deadline, i had to send this material from the USA to Portugal. Since it's a foreign delivery, they cannot accept credit card, and wiring the money would take too long.  So being the brainy problem solver that i am, i decided to route it out from USA.  Since our SF office is on the OTHER side of the continent, and wouldn't be carbon friendly if we had it shipped to SF and cross the US to Europe, i asked Bianca in chicago if she would ship it out for me. 

Being a friendly intrepid trooper, she said yes.

I think mercury was in serious retrograde, because it took a team of 3 people + me waiting on the other side of the pond, trying to figure out why UPS didn't pick up. Long story short and Moral of the story. Dont give out your UPS # to someone and expect smooth shipping.  UPS is not the most reliable/friendly of corriers anymore. Good to have backup and the good ol'  Post Office (though slower than others) is the slow turtle that wins.  It helps to have a good sense of humor, AND dont' forget to breathe in those moments.

After many valiant attempts..these eco friendly babies finally borded the plane heading for europe.  Despite a rocky start, hope these material will make it to the factory on time.

Thanks Bianca, Michael and Dorothy!

Living in italy teaches me to slow down and smell the spaghetti (vegan of course)...especially in August of every year. The country shuts down, i mean SHUT DOWN. ..factories, stores, restaurants, bakeries, municipal services have a skeleton crew for emergencies; the city becomes a ghost town. In some cases even post offices have reduced days.  They flock to the sea to crowd elbows with the rest of the population (and a few northern sunlovers) to spend hours on the roadways, and eventually to work on their famous dark brown italian tan.

This is all fine and good when i'm one of them that are going away; but i'm one of those who stayed in the empty town.  Planning production when factories/vendors close is not an enjoyable task. The mad rush to get everything done for the August Rush is...shall we say...hair raising?  i have 3 grey hairs to prove it.

For Fall i'm offering some beautiful biodegradable suede maryjanes, and thigh high boots (stay tuned to the website, am working on it!) and booties in brocade...i was so pleased with myself until i had to order materials. Thanks to the economic downturn, vendors don't stock materials that i was looking for.  i was crestfallen!!!

The clock was ticking-3 more weeks til the August closure. what to do? it put my visualization skills to the test.  Extreme test!  I had to select the material, make the protos and order production yardage before even having even touched the material.  Because the factory is closing in August and i have to go into production as soon as they come back from holidays (it takes another 2 weeks to put their head back on). No time to waste. Needless to say, i prayed a lot during this period.

Now the task is done- miraculously the samples turned out better than it had anticipated. i cried when the box came in because i was afraid of what i would find. Now we'll just have to get the factory to fire up the the equipment and get them made.  Here is a little sneak preview...unsure what my fave is yet.. cant' wait for weather to turn cool so i can  take them for a spin. 

ps: I am of the school that does not like to scour the fashion magazines as a full time occupation; i don't want to be brainwashed by the mass media.  Opting instead for a dose of real inspiration, having the collection represent how i see the modern woman. Well whadya know! the Cuissard (aka thigh high boots) are all the rage this season. Kailia proudly offers our version. Have you seen Prada's fishing boots up practically to the waist? but that's made from some poor ol' cow's back.  You can have all the style without wearing someone's mother on your feet.  Compassion is the sign of REAL style!

Thanks to this marvelous internet technology, through my blog, i've met the most wonderful people.. people who have read what i've wrote and resonate with it, then take the time to acknowledge, thus contact/friendship is made.  I cannot believe how many wonderful souls are out there, who have found me....Today i would like to tell you about one of them.  Her name is Dana.

Dana is very special..she is a young lady from New York, who transplanted to LA. a vegetarian shoe designer, Dana is taking some time out to nurture her beautiful son who was born last dec.  Doesn't he look like a Gerber baby with those cheeks?

She found me and offered to be of help...i've only seen her once, but she has tirelessly helped me promote the brand, organize sales events with little Hunter in tow. she is my cheerleader who is simply an angle of light.....after each email or skype chat..she signs off with  "sweet blessings".  Those words comfort me and each time brings me close to tears of gratitude.  In the midst of so much perceived lack and scarcity, Dana is unwavered in her belief in the generosity of the Universe.

This entry is a special thank you for Dana- who is an angle with a compassionate heart.. Sweet blessings to you Dana and all of you out there reading this blog.  May you be inspired by all the goodness around you!

Ciao tutti,
I was in California to visit family and to continue spreading the word about Kailia Footwear, when my partner Dana called with an exciting project Discarded to Divine, which is a fundraiser for St. Vincent de Paul society, over the years it has become a big whoo whoo shin dig in San Francisco.

Kailia was invited as a guest designer to submit a pair of shoes made from discarded items (picked up at the St. Vincent de Paul "store", where the homelss go and scope out their next outfit).  I wasn't  very convinced because i had very little time...i promised myself that if the idea came to me while Dana is pitching to me , i'd do it....Lo and behold; during the conversation, i saw clearly a pr of white boots with flowers growing all around it, like a trellis...so i agreed to do it.

we were a late entry, so when we showed up at the store, there was little left.  a hawaiian shirt here, an embroidered sweater there (big shoulders and loud, joan collin's style). i was looking for go go boots but all i had was a pr of black boots with the heels all wrong. How was i going to make this happen???


Another trip to salvation army proved a bit more fruitful.  old silk flowers with decades of dust,  some old ribbons and a bathing suit with promising colors.  I called my best partner in crime- my sister Lily ..a bridal gown designer, we set out to make the vision a reality.

We had such fun creating this piece!  when we were done, it was a piece of art that i could barely believe it came from discarded items. It was exactly what i had envisioned (dare i say even a wee bit better?)..couldn't wait to see the reaction.


So the much anticipated event came around on Mya 7th, Unfortunately i had already reutrned to Italy.  Dana and Bertrand Pellegrin went to the event as Kailia special guests.  So many beautiful original creations! when Ode to Spring came on stage, the music of "these boots are made for walking" by Nancy Sinatra synched perfectly to the lovely model who strutted her stuff.  The audience howled and clapped with enthusiasm and pleasure.  I am so pleased!

see the photos from the event:
http://harberphotography.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/discarded-to-divine-2/

Fun was had by all..wish i were there.

Ciao tutti,
Being a pioneer in a new field is not easy.  Pioneer in the sense that my shoes are a hybrid of ecology/compassion with fashion.  Usually Fashion stores don't know what to do with the Eco story (though that is changing thankfully!), fur and python are still considered mere "textures".  Eco shoe stores usually focus on comfort, don't have a section for beautiful heels for the conscious urban girl.  Throw in the state of the economy, seems stores are shrinking away from any new untried brands.

Since i'm a firm believer in manifestation, have asked Source to look into this matter for me. Lo and behold, a beautiful solution was found.

A friend of mine Antonio, who owns a store named Uomini é Uomini (which means Men & Men), sells...guess what? men's furnishings in his store.  Since action has been slow since the economy downfall, he's been looking for creative ways to liven up the action.

Well, we certainly make for strange bedfellows (figuratively of course!). I am all about feminine and veg, his store carries boxers and ties and beauty products for men; but we had nothing to lose, so i made some vegan hors d'oeuvres and showed up in a vintage kimono (gotta look the part!) the party was a smashing success!

It was an auspicious sign when i was dressing the window with Antonio the night before at 11:30PM.  Some passersby knocked on the window and wanted to know how much the shoes cost, they were so excited!.. The next day the store was packed!  the women were goo-gooing and gaga-ing over how the shoes made them feel..how comfortable they are..."oh, they are vegan? what does that mean?"  

It was definitely NOT the vegetarian crowd, but it didn't matter. I came to the realization that the fact the shoes appeal to the aesthetics was the #1 reason to buy.  The rest were just cherries on the cake.  Many of them went home with a new awareness, that their dollars (euros in this case) is a powerful way to change the marketplace.  Also doing something for the environment doesn't mean they have to sacrafice style.

Moments of joy: a woman who claims she never wears heels, ordered not one, but TWO pairs of Grazia.  Elena who loved the Nobilia heels from Fall, sat there and stared at them for about an hour (this is her in the photo)...she walked home with them.  Giaquinta is having a birthday this weekend, she wants to wear her new pair of Victorias to celebrate her special day.  Italian women are notoriously finicky with shoes...Kailia passed the litmous test, yipeee!

So antonio got a renewed flow of traffic, i got validation that the Kailia shoes are on the right track. Win Win for all.  This worked out so well that we are talking about making Kailia Footwear a permenant fixture in Uomini & Uomini.  So come visit if you are in the neighborhood!

Who would've thought?