On my end of things, I never planned to get into shoes. I have always been one of those girls with a lot of shoes, all different types, including vintage shoes that I became really into before moving from Michigan to L.A. I was working as an art director and a graphic designer in Michigan and moved to Los Angeles strictly for the knitwear program at FIDM. I wanted to create my own knitwear. While I was at FIDM I fell in love with being in school again and I felt that the shoe program sounded interesting and that it was another way to apply my design background, since I studied in many areas prior to moving. I gave the application process a shot for the advanced program and wasn't sure if I was accepted if I was even going to do it, but I was accepted, fell in love with the design application assignment and felt it was now or never since I was already back in school for the second time. It just all fell into place and felt like the right thing to do since I loved the process.
I read that the name "omelle" was created by scrambling the letters of your name and your partner Cherise's. Were there any other possible names for your line that came out of this scrambling of letters? Why did you end up picking the name "omelle"?
We went on google and looked for word scrambler programs and scrambled "Cherise Marie Angelle" and "Nicole Michelle LaFave". Yes there were a bunch of names on the list, however we only circled about 3-5 of them, most of which I don't really remember. We picked omelle because it just sounded right and felt good. It was feminine, quirky and sophisticated, which was what our shoes are.
When was it that you first felt that you 'made it' as a designer? Or to put it differently, what has been your proudest moment as a designer?
BEFORE FOOTWEAR (me):
-Creating my first online portfolio as a graphic designer + when I first got into knits ages ago for myself.
-Accomplishing my knitwear portfolio at my first degree at FIDM, it was such a difficult process and degree, but I pushed myself so hard at school to finish the impossible.
IN FOOTWEAR (Cherise + myself):
- Writing the omelle business plan with Cherise, one of the hardest things to date that either of us have accomplished! (probably a huge milestone overall for our shoe careers)
- Sharing S/S 2009 with the world! When we were able to show the shoes to retailers, the press + started getting the word out there, I was proud of all our hard work.
- Shipping S/S 2009 to retailers + opening our webstore! This just happened this past year and as a footwear company, probably one of the proudest accomplishments
What is your favorite shoe out of the Spring/Summer '09 collection?
Can you give us an idea as to where omelle shoes are headed for Fall/Winter '09-10?