THE product of imagination and chutzpah, a bespoke shoe line was born.
In her childhood, Joanna Camille Litton wanted to be a scientist or a marine biologist. Instead she ended up in dentistry at the University of the East. Bored with oral biology and dental waxing, she started sketching her fetish—shoes.
A friend from the Teodoro clan, makers of the iconic Ang Tibay shoes of the ’60s, asked Joanna to be a partner in a shoe line. Although it didn’t get off the ground, Joanna hung on to her dream.
After two years of dentistry, she traded the mouth mirrors and dental probes for shoe lasts and leather soles. Joanna was finally going entrepreneurial. With a capital of close to a million, she was ready to put her best foot forward. Asked how she raised her capital, Joanna said proudly, “From my savings!”
“I’m very kuripot (thrifty),” she explained. “I buy clothes on sale. I mix and match. I wear simple classic pieces.”
Surely, she must have had an allowance that matched the salary of a company executive to accumulate such an amount.
It turned out, her grandfather invested for her in the stock market years ago. She also saved up her talent fees from modeling.
Her aunt, Edwina Litton Ortigas, once owned a shoe factory, and a cousin produced beaded bags. With their help, Joanna tapped the manpower in the shoe capital of Marikina and other suppliers.
Seeing her determination, Joanna’s parents gave her showroom space in the family-owned Liberty Center. Shiny textures—beads, satin or shells rendered in refined colors—are her trademark. Clients can visit the showroom and choose the colors, heels and materials for their shoes. By word of mouth, women, from the young to the sophisticated, took fancy on her styles.
It takes three weeks to produce the shoes, given the detailed beadwork. Although she hasn’t recovered her capital, business has been steady. The advantage of custom-made shoes is that there is neither inventory nor headaches related to deadlines and retail quotas.
One of her first clients was Vicky Panlilio, the stylish and vivacious mother of her boyfriend, Aldo Claparols. Vicky bought satin shoes, accentuated by a rosette of shells on the vamp.
Expression
When she presented her line to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Joanna sounded like a marketer, waxing poetic about the emotions and concepts behind the styles. To practical women, the shoes are just calfskin leather and plastic heels, encrusted with fine beadwork. To Joanna, the shoes are an expression of her identity.
“I started designing shoes because I wanted to be my own person.” She likened the styles to her diary entries, culled from personal experience or influences from the environment.
She recalled how the sight of a rainbow after a dreary weather saved her from the drudgery of dentistry: “It was like a symbol of hope.” Inspired by this, Joanna fashioned a mule with rainbow straps and a knotted bow, and called it “Iris.”
Watching snippets of “Cirque du Soleil” on YouTube, Joanna longed to see a live performance. The “Cirque du Soleil” shoe captures the whimsical spirit of the circus: with black and white stripes on the vamp and gold and brown zigzag patterns on the side.
A pair of flats channels Gene Simmons, the iconic rocker of Kiss, notorious for his blood-red tongue that stuck out against chalk-white foundation, and the eye painted with black batwing patterns. The “Black-and-White” flat has pointy tips, contrasting stripes on the vamp and pyramid patterns, much like his boots. The sole is bright red.
Freudian symbol
The shoes can get really sexy with open-toe mules with four-inch stilettos. “I imagine this is a woman who entangles men. It’s sexy like a secret,” said Joanna, referring to the partly exposed upper that reveals the woman’s arch. For her, the shoe is a Freudian symbol of what women like her desire. “I want to be sexy but not scandalous.”
The styles could be as quiet yet still rich, such as the satin “Buddha” flats lined with beads and punctuated with a Buddha bead and tassel at the back, or the “Harmony” flats in jade punched up by a beaded black and white Yin and Yang symbol.
“Harmony” reflects the state of her relationship with workers and staff. She admitted that it was a humbling experience to adjust to the Filipino mentality where smooth interpersonal relations drive the work output.
“Learning how to deal with people has been the best education I’ve had,” said Joanna on her career highlight.
A 21-year-old like Joanna faces life with idealism and bravado. That’s the age when nothing seems impossible and you can pretty much get your way. After a year of being in the business, she’s more confident about her product. “I’m proud to say that I’m finally a designer,” declared Joanna.
(For appointments call 09153796733 or 534-5648 loc. 102. Located at Litton & Co., Liberty Center, 312 Shaw Blvd. Mandaluyong City.)
Copyright 2009 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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