Blog
Woodbury Common, New York
If you’re going to New York and you’re a shopper like me then I recommend you allocate enough time for an entire day at Woodbury Common which is a premium outlet centre. They claim to be the world’s most iconic outlet shopping destination and I think it’s very good. They have over 250 designers there and the ones I went to were: Prada, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Sandro, Saint Laurent, Burberry, Moncler, Bogner, Zimmerman, Alexander McQueen, Ferragamo, and Polo Ralph Lauren. I also went to Adidas, Nike, Michael Kors, and a few cheapies as well. If you want to check...
Shoe Superstitions
Almost every time I make a new sandal design, I put the sandals on my kitchen bench and film and photograph them. However, yesterday a friend said to me “Is it bad luck to put your shoes on a bench or is it only bad luck to put them on a table?” Hmm! This obviously piqued my interest, so I Googled away. This is what I found: According to Wikipedia, there is a superstition that bad luck will come to a person who places shoes on a table (luckily, I put mine on my kitchen bench for filming, not my...
Camilla at Claremont Quarter
Have you seen the new Camilla store at Claremont Quarter? The fit-out is beautiful. In fact, I think it’s the best fit-out in all of Claremont Quarter. It’s very much inspired by the Amalfi Coast in Italy which is where I trained as a Sandal Artisan. And I must say that Camilla outfits are stunning paired with my sandal designs. It seems that the investment from Tattarang may have given Camilla a massive infusion of funds. Tattarang has confirmed an investment in Camilla Australia Pty Ltd (CAMILLA). The investment makes Tattarang a minority shareholder and it is believed the investment...
Saks Fifth Avenue 10022-SHOE
Do you believe that Saks Fifth Avenue’s shoe floor in New York has its own zip code? Well, it’s actually true, yes it does and it’s 10022-SHOE. The zip code was created from a one-off partnership between Saks and the United States Postal Service. Saks’ PR director at the time, Lesley Langsam Kennedy said, “It is a marketing strategy. We wanted the department to be a destination and that required a ZIP code. It’s the first time anyone has ever been given permission to do something like this.” On a recent girls’ trip to New York, we visited Saks on Fifth...
Words of Wisdom from Ed Sheeran
Although he’s only 32 years old, I heard some wonderful words of wisdom from Ed Sheeran recently at his New York concert. He said in his early days after touring for many years he went home, and people said to him “take some time off and enjoy your hobbies.” He said he realised he didn’t have one single hobby. Then he went on to say, “this is my hobby” – “touring and creating music.” His words really resonated with me and helped me realise that Ankalia is my number one hobby (I do have many other hobbies though, as...
The Best Coffee in New York
Like a lot of people, I love “’good” coffee and it’s something important to me when I travel. I most certainly need a perfect coffee to start my day, as well as another one late in the morning and then one every afternoon with a chocolate bar. Recently I did a trip to New York with Sami Lukis and eleven other girls. Fortunately, Sami has been doing her tours to New York for twelve years, so she was able to provide us with an extensive list of places that make ‘good’ coffee and two of them were very close to...