MY MARY JANE HAS FINALLY ARRIVED
"Slow and steady, because doing things well is more important than doing them".
- Antonio Machado -
My Mary Jane has finally arrived. The image illustrating this post was taken in Rome in early September 2018. The exact place, emblematic if ever there was one, was chosen with great affection, in a mixture of intention and chance... A place that evokes universality, passion, history, pride, charm... A place that brings to the imagination the essence of Italy. And for this reason, perhaps my favourite of all the places that the eternal city has to offer. Some of you will have already identified it... I am referring to the Staircase of the Trinità dei Monti.
I remember arriving very early that day. Dawn was breaking and the Piazza de Spagna was practically deserted. I was surprised at first, because I had always found it crowded with people... Aware of the opportunity that fate had given me, I decided to seize the moment. I sat down on one of its steps and simply enjoyed those moments as I have enjoyed few things in my life. Sitting there, as so many people have been before me, as many others will be... But in total tranquillity. With that magical place all to myself, I savoured second by second those moments that one knows are unique and will remain alive in the memory forever.
After a while, small groups of people began to arrive and I realised the value of those minutes of introspection I had spent in that unique place. I then decided that that staircase would be the frame for the first photographs of the shoe in which I have put more illusion, passion and work since I created the shoe. Bohemian. The shoe in which there is more of myself. And it was also then when I decided to name it after the person who has contributed to universalise this magical environment as few others have done... I would call my dancer "Audrey".
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Rome, 1953
The result of that special moment is the image that introduces this blog post and some more that you can find on the Instagram wall of Bohemian Shoes.
And from the mystique of that idyllic trip to Rome, and those minutes sitting there, I moved on to action as soon as I set foot in Madrid. If we talk about the process of designing, manufacturing and launching AUDREY, nothing sums it up more accurately than the quote from Antonio Machado that I have chosen to accompany this post:
"Slow and steady, because doing things well is more important than doing them".
And so it is indeed... It has been patience and affection that have guided me through the whole process. Although AUDREY has just appeared, she is the first dancer we started to think about at the time. And we did it even before OLIVIAAUDREY, the first one we made, which has been on the market since we launched the website at the end of September 2018. We liked this strap-on ballerina so much that we chose an image of its prototype among the first ones we included in the launch of the website. It didn't matter that we didn't make it at the time, because we knew that sooner or later we would... This ballerina was for me like those loves that you feel that one day they will materialise and you wait for them without haste, without looking for them... because you know that one day they will come... because they are written.
And that day has arrived. We have been waiting for this love for many months, cooking it over a slow fire, shaping it with love, time and dedication. And now it's time to enjoy it... Me, offering it to you and seeing how you wear it. You, by wearing it.
This metaphor can be used to sum up what AUDREY transmits to us, and what has led us to her. A dancer who has made us fall in love with her. We knew it would, but the result has exceeded our expectations. We have developed a last that stylises the silhouette as few shoes of its kind do, and we have given it a 2-centimetre heel that avoids the discomfort of walking flat.
Its colours, which you can wear at different times of the year, represent the essence of Bohemian and make you never get tired of looking at them. Red, silver, Oxford blue, bougainvillea, nude pink, sky blue... Impossible to go unnoticed with them on.
The interior, in leather as is Bohemian Shoes' hallmark... Non-negotiable for us from the beginning. This translates into extra comfort and the possibility of wearing them at almost any time of the year without your feet suffering excessively from on hot or cold.
That's AUDREY. My Mary Jane has finally arrived. The time, patience, dedication and love have been worth it, because you are loving them. I have the sensation of floating in them, of wearing a different ballerina... Because wherever they start, all eyes end up on her... Do you join her? trend?
Eva Veiga - Bohemian Shoes
