Heaven Has Heels | Interview with Ce Ce
Ce Ce gets in the well heeled hot seat over at Heaven Has Heels! If she could be one shoe, what would it be? FIND OUT!
Tag Archives: Ce Ce Chin
Synchronized Swimming
Here I am, tapping into my inner Synchronized Swimmer self, in Mexico last year.
This Olympic season, while everyone else is freaking out about Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps and Gabby Douglas, I’m hunting around for coverage of Synchronized swimming. In junior high and high school I was a competitive “Synchro” swimmer. Yes, that’s true, I wore knox gelatin i my hair and a tremendous amount of water proof make up. I went to summer “Synchro” camp and even trained with Mary Jo Ruggieri, who was then the Olympic coach. Because I was the smallest and the lightest in the team, I was the flip girl! This is one of the most challenging sports ever- combines dance, water, performance, music- and its always scoffed at by the more mainstream sports enthusiasts.
Well, this team performance by the Spain team from last week in London is amazing. Watch the full video clip over at NBC Olympics site.
So what is the later career path for synchronized swimmers? Believe it or not, there’s definitely a second leg of this career and that is to be a performer in Cirque De Soleil “O” shows.
80%20 x Select Summer Fridays | August 3rd, 2012
After a long work week, everyone deserves to reward themselves with a daytime cocktail or two, danceable tunes, and good company. In it’s second year, Jules Kim (Bijules) and Katie Longmyer (Good Peoples) continue their partnership with The Standard Rooftop at the Highline to present Select Summer Fridays, mixing the fashion, creative, and nightlife worlds during the day. Refreshing right?
Select Summer Fridays has become a staple event on our calendar and it only seemed natural to team up with Jules and Katie to host one of the best parties in town! Last Friday, in celebration of our upcoming Fall 2012 collection, we co-hosted the event and engaged with the community – from stylists to editors, you name it. Cara Buckley of The New York Times was also in attendance covering the event and spoke with Ce Ce on her new perspective on the club-drenched neighborhood and why she loves Select Summer Fridays. “The meatpacking gets a bad rap, and it lives up to its rap after 11 p.m.,” said Ce Ce Chin, the designer of the shoe brand 80%20, and among the afternoon’s hosts. “But this is different. More grown-up.” To read the entire article, head over to www.nytimes.com.
Mingling was had, delicious cocktails were sipped, and we couldn’t have asked for better weather! Thank you to everyone who came out to support the event! Here are a few snapshots from last Friday’s party.
Guests relaxing at the Standard Rooftop
80%20 (from left to right: Katharine Smith, Kristina Ho, and Ce Ce Chin)
A Bridgette Bardot collage – we were inspired!
Decked out in limited-edition 80%20′s!
Ce Ce with fellow independent footwear designers Cindy Pellechio & Jesse Howard of Matiko
Amina Akhtar, Executive Editor of Elle.com shares a laugh with 80%20′s Kristina
See full gallery:
Our Fall 2012 line will be in stores across the United States and internationally in late August. A curated selection will also be available at www.8020nyc.com!
Thread NY | One to Watch: 80%20
We’re so excited to be featured in the Thread NY blog!
Ce Ce moved to New York to pursue her dream in fashion, but after several years of working in the industry, she was still searching for creative fulfillment. Her quest for authentic expression led to the launch of 80%20! To read the entire article, head over to the Thread NY.
Cool Hunting’s Studio Visit
Graham Hiemstra of Cool Hunting stopped by our design studio in New York to chat with Ce Ce about her design process and inspirations. For more photos, read the full article at Cool Hunting.
The Manhattan Fashion Insiders Guide | by Carole Sabas
The Paris of Fashion Insiders was written by, Carole Sabas, the New York correspondent for French Vogue a couple months ago to critical acclaim. Sabas, a native Parisian, was constantly providing tips on the City of Lights to visiting friends and colleagues. She decided that it was time to put all her handy information into a convenient source. She enlisted French Vogue’s beauty director, Frédérique Verley, and ten friends, including Le Figaro’s Virginie Mouzat and stylist Christopher Niquet to help compile the list, which she describes as “efficient snobbery. Made in Paris by stylish, down-to-earth, don’t-fool-me fashion insiders”.
It was only a matter of time that Sabas would put together a handy New York reference book! Sabas partnered with some of New York’s best creative types and tastemakers for The Manhattan Fashion Insiders Guide: A Private and Friendly guide in stores now. This edition features “trendy raw restaurants & new casual diners, juices gurus & compelling Japanese cantinas, trendy yogas (capoeierayoga), chiropractor of the stars, best $30 asian rubs… PLUS: inspired healers, cosmetic acupuncture, chic chic manicure for supermodels, safe eylashes extension parlors … & our special nights in Doyers st (the new hot spot Winter/Spring 2012)”.
We’re happy to announce that The Manhattan Fashion Insiders Guide includes hot spots and tips from our very own Creative Director, Ce Ce Chin! Carole asked Ce Ce to share her insights on the gems in Chinatown! Ce Ce lives in an apartment handed down from her great-grandfather, who was an old time gangster named Black Lips. As Ce Ce says, “He’d be rolling in his grave if he saw the expensive cocktails being served at Pulqueria, or the woke up to the thumping bass from Le Baron, that’s basically in my backyard”. Well now, as the Fashion Insider book says, Chinatown is a “whole new center for nightlife this season”.
The book can be purchased at the McNally Jackson Bookstore website and is also available at their bookstore located at 52 Prince Street between Lafayette and Mulberry. If you’re in Paris, it will be available at colette at a later date.
All proceeds go to It Gets Better, the amazing organization helping LGBT youth. To learn more about what else you can find in The Manhattan Fashion Insiders Guide, check out the New York Times feature.
Chic in Shanghai IV | Ferguson Lane, The Center of Chicness
Ferguson Lane- an enclave of galleries, cafes, restaurants and boutiques- is within the heart of the French Concession in Shanghai. The most chic Shanghainese relax in this calm oasis, as well as Ex pats who are dying for a great cappuccino and biscotti.
Ferguson Lane is home to the Leo Gallery, where my close friend Leslie Kuo is the art gallery’s manager.
Inside Leo… A terracotta Olympian diver created during the Beijing Olympics.
Cherubic Mao Angels- now these are definitely ironic.
I owe all my great Shanghai experiences to Leslie! She lets me stay at her cute apartment and takes me through the glamourous parts of the fastest growing city as well as deep into its remarkable underbelly.
Here’s the plastic taxi, a modern day rickshaw that drove us around the city. No seat belts, no solid windows, just us bouncing off the pavement!
A quick video of our tour- as you can hear in the audio, we assured ourselves “we’ll be fine”.
Leslie Kuo standing outside of the Leo Gallery- in my opinion she is the Chicest in Shanghai!
Chic in Shanghai III | Shopping at SEVEN DAYS
While I produce my shoes in China, 80%20 doesn’t currently sell there (except perhaps in the black market).
I’m always thinking about how I want to enter the Chinese market, and how their contemporary customers buys fashion. After all, the Chinese market is huge and counterfeiting is like, a way of business life over there. They’ve got their own massive shopping website called Taobao, which is a combination of Fresh Direct, Amazon and Ebay. On the streets, many of the stores are over crowded with merchandise and poorly lit- making everything look like the merchandise on Canal street.
How does one find the unique items when there’s just so much junk? How does an independent shoe brand distinguish themselves, and how can we establish the right presence? Just when I was exhausted from my research, I found SEVEN DAYS, a multi-line boutique.
Oh I am loving their brand philosophy!
I bought this grey shawl neck sweater- been so cozy wearing it on cold ways. And the poppy rain coat- so fun!
SEVEN DAYS carries all independent brands mainly from Japan, Korea, China and Hong Kong. But I could see 80%20 making our debut here. After all, I’m Chinese right? I love their brand fixtures- tradition inspired blue and white Ceramic tiles to mark each label and location of the designer.
These shorts were also at the store, very cool.
Oh…this gives me some ideas for Spring 2013…Wow, are we talking about that already?
Chic in Shanghai II | Knocked Off and Upgraded
While exploring the streets of the French Concession in Shanghai, I recognized something very familiar in a boutique window…80%20′s Bee shearling and suede boot. I did a double take and looked down at my own feet- I was wearing the same pair that day. I thought well, …do we sell to any accounts in Shanghai? Not that I could recall. Upon closer inspection I realized that these were copies…and the label on the shoe was “Chloe”! That was a first for me- being knocked off in China… and upgraded to a major designer brand!
I knew instinctually however, that these were not authentic Chloe boots. I always keep up on the designer collections and I would have been well aware if the Chloe had presented a similar boot.
I was concerned that perhaps my factory had done the knocking off themselves. When I brought this to their attention, they defended themselves by pointing out all the subtle differences (as opposed to obvious similarities). They pointed out that if they really wanted to copy our shoe, they would not have bothered to make these changes. While that wasn’t exactly soothing information, their argument held logic.
1) Chloe version has fake shearling and our boot is real shearling
2) Very subtle pattern differences
3) Outsole difference
The boutique was actually quite cute and had a great assortment of name brands (all a bit questionable in origin). I left the store feeling just a little bit exploited, but also with a new sense of confidence. After all, someone in China saw potential in my design and decided that it would carry more weight with the Chloe mark.
Ironically, the store was called WHERE, WHAT, WHO.
Chic in Shanghai | Part I
As a way to break up the long trip development trip to China each season, I try to plan a fun excursion away from the factory towns to see something new. In December, I visited my close friend Leslie Kuo, an American expatriate in Shanghai. Leslie took me to a dinner party, where I was greeted by following wall piece.
This message was literally and figuratively “a sign”. I was feeling a lot of Creative Anxiety and my initial response was to shut down or run away from the feeling. Seeing this sign reinforced one of my core beliefs, that uncertainty provides an opportunity to reinvent. As much as I’d like to avoid this frustrating part of the process, the uncertainty itself is what often fuels my creative fires.
With this message to guide me, I started seeing creativity in the hanging laundry on pedestrian streets.
