Shops selling shoes with a Belgian Twist for women
Emanuelle Lebas
Emanuelle LebasMore Info
70S EYEWEAR COLLECTIONS WITH A TWIST
“Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot … and my own grandmother. They are the sources of inspiration for the eyewear collections I designed,” said Brussels award-winning designer Emmanuelle Lebas. Somewhat surreal collections consisting of 27 frames: 20 optical and 7 sunglasses, in different colours, shapes and materials. And inspired by iconic women from the 70s.
“In my childhood memories, I see my grandmother and her sister as iconic women with large glasses. I admired them, just like the stars of the 60s and 70s. I want to pass on that iconic look to all women over the age of 25,” says designer Emmanuelle. “Because you have to admit: such glasses give you personality.”
NOT TOO FEMININE
The names of the glasses also refer to icons from the 70s or to some of Lebas’ loved ones – Brigitte, Jessica and Maria are just a few examples. The frames are made from sustainable cotton and metal, and available in different round, rectangular, small and large models. You can also choose from multiple colours: turtle print, transparent pink, malachite green, orange, nude, gold…
“The focus of the collections is on women – although there are a few unisex models – but the glasses are deliberately not too feminine,” according to Lebas. “I did not want the collections to be too chic, but to be one with a great eye for detail.
ID DESIGNER EMMANUELLE LEBAS
The Belgian designer Emmanuelle Lebas graduated in 2013 as a fashion designer at the Academy of La Cambre in Brussels, after which she immersed herself in the art of making shoes and accessories. She gained experience working with Belgian fashion designer Cathy Pill, clothing brand Cheap Monday and French designer Robert Clergerie, with whom she collaborated to further strengthen her unique vision of the sculptural shoe. Her collections have already been sold through the American Opening Ceremony label.
AWARDS
In 2012 Emmanuelle won the Codefrisko/PURE prize for her collection “If you bring the water, I’ll bring the matches”. A year later she won the Weekend Fashion Award with a collection inspired by both the Serena Williams wardrobe and the ancient Greco-Roman sculptures. Long dresses with a sporty touch. A mix of past and present.
For her creations Emmanuelle Lebas commutes between Brussels and the French capital.
Van Loock
Van LoockMore Info
OVER ONS
Al 75 jaar lang is Van Loock een gevestigde waarde op het gebied van schoenen en lederwaren. In 1946 begon grootvader Albert Van Loock de boerderijen in de buurt te bezoeken met zijn bakfiets, waarin enkele schoenen zaten verstopt. De mensen konden de juiste maat bestellen, en die werd dan enkele weken later aan huis geleverd. Na enkele jaren maakte grootmoeder Yvonne een klein plaatsje vrij in het café, en dat werd de allereerste etalage.
Het kleine winkeltje werd een echte schoenwinkel, waar ondertussen ook handtassen en andere accessoires worden verkocht. Yvonne, en later hun twee dochters, hielpen mee in de winkel. Na verschillende verbouwingen bleef de zaak groeien, en in 1991 kregen de heren hun eigen afdeling. Later, in 1997, kwam er ook een aparte kinderafdeling. De drie kinderen van dochter Rita werken ondertussen ook voltijds mee in de zaak van hun ouders.
In 2009 was het tijd voor de voorlopig laatste verbouwing, en werd er plaats gemaakt voor een aparte handtassenafdeling. Ook reiskoffers en boekentassen hebben nu hun eigen plaats. Voor het ontwerp werd de Belgische architect Vincent Van Duysen aangesproken, die de opdracht kreeg om een strakke winkel te maken met aandacht voor mooie materialen, en waar de schoenen en tassen de aandacht krijgen die ze verdienen. Hij is daar meer dan in geslaagd, daarvan getuigen de vele positieve reacties van klanten en schoenliefhebbers.
Langestraat 49 Zandhoven 2240 Belgium
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Since she was little, Jo De Visscher [°1976] is bitten by the fashion bug. She starts working with scraps of fabric which she turns into full silhouettes for her Barbie dolls and gets her mother to knit matching miniature sweaters.
While growing up, she sews her first skirts on an old sewing machine without having any formal training.
She studies maths and science and, as a teenager, becomes fascinated by an article on the restoration of the frescos in the Sistine Chapel. The article has such an impact on her that she decides to enrol in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, where she studies painting and specializes in restoration of contemporary art. She graduates in ’99, learns the ropes at the S.M.A.K., MuHKA and Kunstmuseum Bonn and finally starts her own restoration company (contemporary art conservation) in Brussels.
She’s asked to collaborate on the exhibition ‘Mutilate?-Vermink?’ — curated by Walter Van Beirendonck — at the MuHKA and this project rekindles her passion for fashion. Jo follows her heart, says goodbye to restoration and hello to fashion and clothing. She does an intensive course in pattern making, learns proper sewing properly this time and studies fashion design at night school. She also freelances for the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
In 2007, her final year show generates such a buzz that she decides to design and market her own ‘jodevisscher’ collection.
Hoornstraat 6 Gent 9000
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SUITE – GHENT
At Suite, you are offered the time and space you need to complete your wardrobe with exclusive pieces which strengthen your personality and view of life.
Cutting-edge fashion and personal service in a relaxed and intimate interior: Suite had represented the love for slow fashion since the very beginning.
Carefully composed into a consistent and balanced ensemble, the Suite collections focus on craftsmanship and authenticity. Behind every collection stands an exceptional designer with powerful ideas and a unique take on ready-to-wear fashion. Convinced that beauty lies in the detail, Suite allows no room for mass production or excessiveness. Screened for cut, quality of materials and origin, the featured collections all contribute to a timeless story in which fashion embodies so much more than thoughtlessly adapting to fleeting trends.
Combining established and respected designers with fresh emerging talent, founder Lut Soens never fails to experiment. Minimalism and avant-garde are the key values on which Suite is based.
The interior, designed by architect Glenn Sestig, reflects the Suite principles. Warm colors and soft materials tuned Suite into the perfect environment where creative women can develop their personal style on their own terms. Do not expect imposed make-overs from Lut: with considerate advice she will assist you in finding those pieces that align perfectly with your personality and views. Her professional and no-nonsense approach guarantees sustainable choices, respecting each woman’s individuality.
At Suite, you are offered the time and space you need to complete your wardrobe with exclusive pieces which strengthen your personality and view of life.
Hoogpoort 59 Gent 9000 Belgium
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Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee… that is what Elegnano stands for.
Elegnano offers elegant, exclusive women’s shoes of the highest quality for women that are fashionable and graceful, but also know what they want in life. Elegnano lives by the motto: float like butterfly, sting like a bee. Walking through life effortless and elegant, but strong and sharp at the same time. Elegnano wants every woman to move gracefully through life – like a fairy or a butterfly – without exchanging elegance and femininity for comfort and resilience. Technological innovation and modern design make this possible.Elegnano is literally, and figuratively a fusion of elegance and nanotechnology.
The Italian craftmenship and high-tech innovation are brought together in unique designs. The design studio is based in Belgium. We pay a lot of attention to the right fit and materials of the shoes. Only top quality materials are personally selected with great care. The exclusive leather goods are handmade in the Marche in Italy, known worldwide for producing high quality footwear.
Katrien Herdewyn,s fascination for shoes started at a very young age: The four year old Katrien built a shoe shop in front of the garage and spent hours underneath tables in aisles to look at the shoes of people that walked by, without being distracted by anything above it. In 2010 she graduated as a civil engineer with a master’s degree in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the University of Leuven. After her studies she started a PhD in Sciences, in combination with studies in Footwear Design at the Academy of Fine Arts of Sint-Niklaas. She took specialized classes in Fashion Footwear Design at London College of Fashion (UK), Polimoda (Italy), Prescot & McKay (UK) and SLEM (Netherlands). Her designs are enchanting and delicate, yet edgy and sharp. The eccentric collections she designed for the Academy have already been shown in various exhibitions, fairs and fashion shows in Belgium, the Netherlands, London and Paris. In 2013 she was nominated for the Global Footwear Design Award. In 2014 she became the only Belgian finalist in the prestigious Muuse x Vogue Talents – Young Vision Award Accessories. In November 2014 Katrien started her own commercial shoe label: Elegnano.
Willem De Croylaan 35 Heverlee 3001 Belgium
Olivierstraat 21 Wezemaal 3111 Belgium
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Made & More is a Belgium based online store dedicated to sustainable fashion and transparency on who, and how was made your garment. Through the brands we choose, we want to offer an alternative to fast-fashion for conscious consumers.
WE BELIEVE…
Fashion being one of the biggest industries, we believe that changing the way we consume can bring big changes. Made & More was born because we strongly believe in a proper and sustainable way to consume fashion. We want to give you the opportunity to wear amazing and special fashion apparel. We believe the key is to think about how we buy and what we buy.
Do you know where your clothes come from?
The fashion industry is glamour and fascinating, but also one of the most polluting. Tons of pesticides used, water polluted and wasted and thousands of workers exploited everyday to produced more, faster, at lower cost. Talented worker, artisans, designers are though making every day fashion. We shouldn’t stop buying clothes, but we can ask ourselves how we buy and what we buy.
Sustainable & transparent
There are several ways to bring fashion sustainable. Through the fabrics (organic cotton, reclaimed fabrics, recycled wool, …), through the place of production, through the savoir-faire, through the choice. Made & More carefully choose every brand. Each of them decided to keep their production close, in Europe and to be honest, proud and fully transparent on the way they produce.
“MADE IN” HERE
Because we think transparency goes with honesty, you will find on each brand and article its origin, where it was produced, who is the designer.
There are names, faces and stories.
Each brand we choose has this little something: fine jewels design, recycled fabrics (recycled wool, recycled denim, organic cotton, …) apparel made of reclaimed materials, small production. They all in their way have this ethic twist, making the brand different. At the end, being a conscious consumer, the relation you will build with the garment becomes much more rich than with any other!
Het Oorcussen
Het OorcussenVrijdagmarkt 7 Gent 9000 Belgium
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Les Flemmard, c’est cosy. Ce qui est encore plus cosy, c’est de partager notre bonheur autour de nous.
NOTRE ENGAGEMENT SOCIÉTAL
Parce que la cause nous implique tout particulièrement, nous nous engageons à appliquer une discrimination positive envers les personnes porteuses d’handicap. Cela se concrétise par l’emploi de personnes en situation d’handicap et par le don de Flemmard aux personnes en chaise roulant.
Votre commandes sera prise en charge par une personne en situation d’handicap. Pour les envois, nous travaillons en effet avec un atelier protégé (une entreprise adaptée pour l’emploi de personnes en situation d’handicap). Cela garanti du coeur, de la passion et de la douceur dans chacune des boites.
Nassim est tellement bien Flemmard aux pieds qu’il a eu envie de partager son bonheur avec d’autres : nous offrons une paire de Flemmard à toute personne vivant en chaise roulante.
Si vous avez un handicap physique, prenez contact avec nous Nous serions ravis de vous faire plaisir.
Selon une enquête de Statbel (l’office belge de statistique), en Belgique, seul 24% des personnes handicapées âgées de 15 à 64 ans ont un emploi en Belgique contre 65% pour l’ensemble de la population du même âge. Les rapports de l’Insee montre une situation semblable en France.
Les Flemmard ont de l’énergie à revendre. Si vous avez un projet en faveur de l’handicap, contactez-nous. Nous pourrons voir si l’on peut vous aider : en parler autour de nous, vous aider avec nos bras / notre temps, etc
NOTRE ENGAGEMENT ÉCOLOGIQUE
Flemmard c’est un mode de vie plus écologique. Un engagement évident surtout compte tenu de l’impact environnemental de l’industrie textile version fast fashion.
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JUNE TEAM
June in The City is het geesteskind van Sophie Knockaert. In 2012 opende ze een eerste hub in Heverlee, in 2017 volgde een hub in Genk waar haar zus Michèle het voortouw neemt. Ondertussen worden Sophie en Michèle in beide hubs bijgestaan door een enthousiast team!
IK KOOP BELGISCH
June in The City is een fiere ambassadeur van het ‘Ik Koop Belgisch’ label. Je vindt in de beide hubs een 16-tal Belgische merken van Bellerose over Magdalena tot Aymara en Just in Case. Ook voor accessoires en schoenen van Belgische bodem zit je hier goed: zo val je er voor de minimalistische juwelen van OLA of de subtiele en toch opvallende schoenen van Atelier Content. Daarnaast tekent het Britse merk Ted Baker voor excentriciteit en zorgen labels zoals Katia G. en MaxMara voor Italiaanse flair.
SHOPBELEVING
June in the City staat voor een aangename winkelervaring op maat. Je kan er regelmatig terecht voor zondag shoppings en shopavonden. Evengoed ontdek je de kledingcollecties tijdens pop-ups op verrassende locaties.
PRIVATE SHOPPING
Wil je alleen of met een groep vriendinnen in alle rust komen winkelen? Samen shoppen en gezellig een glas drinken? Dan organiseert June in the City een private shopavond die bij je past. Neem gerust contact op via een van onze twee hubs mocht je hierover extra informatie wensen.
EVENTS
Daarnaast organiseren Sophie en Michèle events zoals ontmoetingen met ontwerpers, consult
Naamsesteenweg 384 Heverlee 3001 Belgium
Winterslagstraat 40 Genk 3600 Belgium
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The workshops are a moment of sharing where time stands still : a unique immersive experience in a cosy atmosphere where participants return home with a personalised leather piece and a strong feeling of pride 🙂
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Experience is not required. Only good eyes, and your good mood!
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You will find below the calendar of workshops. And at the bottom of the page you have more info & pictures about each workshop.
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Note that we also offer customised and team building workshops. Do not hesitate to contact us 🙂
The Brand
Kinamania is an independent Brussels-based atelier with a passion for leather. We make fine iconic footwear inspired by cultural heritage and revisited with elegance and dare. The shoes are made in Spain and Portugal.
“I find my inspiration in basic footwear styles that have stood the test of time to which I add fashion-forward details. This is my way of reinventing heritage.” Kristina
The brand has two main lines – The Essentials which are timeless collections and The Collaborations where Kristina partners with artists, artisans and craft-based NGOs to put their craft in the spotlight.
Collaborations
Kristina has a deep appreciation of makers and cultural heritage combined with a passion for leather as a primary raw material. Driven by her curiosity and her hunger for discovery of creative works, she collaborates with artisans and artists on her shoe collections and takes great pride in partnering, when possible, with craft-based NGOs that drive real changes in people’s lives.
The founder
Former designer and production director to the Johnny Farah House of leather accessories – between Beirut & NY – Kristina Zouein spent countless hours in artisans’ workshops. As a self-taught designer, this was a very formative experience.
In 2015 and with more than 10 years experience, she decides to create Kinamania, a slow fashion brand of accessories with a balanced mix of humility, sobriety and dare.
Of Canadian-Lebanese origins, Kristina lived most of her life in Beirut, until she met her partner and moved to Brussels a few years ago
A committed brand : Kinamania X Cancer
“In November 2019, I was diagnosed with breast cancer which pushed me to redefine the way I am leading my life and my business. Statistics show that 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer, and I was chocked when I learnt those numbers, especially to discover that so many women, like myself, below the age of 40 go through this for reasons that are still unclear. Since then, I have committed to support cancer research.”
Leather and sustainability
Kinamania shoes are made from domesticated animal skins that are raised in agricultural settings and treated in European tanneries that are certified for their environmentally friendly working method.
The European leather industry is at the forefront of the conversation and innovation towards lower impact and circular practices :
+ to reduce chemical usage, water, and waste compared to traditional tanning processes.
+ to make sure that animals from which the hide is used are being treated well
+ to ensure that people who produce the leather are treated fairly
Fun facts to know 🙂
+++ It is through a failed romance with a Spaniard that Kristina discovered the abarca sandal style. This traditional Spanish sandal was the trigger to her shoe brand.
+++ KinaMania is a brand name with roots in ‘menorquina’, the alternative name for the abarca sandal which was originally handmade on the island of Menorca in the Baleares. The mania for Kinas is born from menorquina mania!
+++ The shoes have singer name and the subtitles refer to uplifting songs that align to the Craft Your Day tagline.
+++ The tag line says CRAFT YOUR DAY with two dashes. The two dashes symbolise the craftsmanship and hand-stitched design signature of the Kinamania fine footwear atelier.
Atypical leather-craft workshops
Kristina also offers creative leathercraft workshops combining leather and modern technology.
The objective behind those workshops is that participants personalise a beautiful object – in a warm and friendly atmosphere – and proudly return home with a unique souvenir.
WE ARE OPEN !
In the prestigious Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert, center Brussels !
Kinamania will be here until July 25.
Looking forward to welcoming you!
Galerie du Roi 22, 1000, Brussels
Open Tue-Sun from 11H-19H
Galerie du Roi 22 Brussels 1000 Belgium
13 Bollinckx Street Brussels 1070 Belgium