Meet Ginissima, the new on-line shoe brand!

Today I met Gina, the Romanian founder and owner of a new shoe brand called “Ginissima”. Her plan is to focus on on-line shopping, combining wearability, delivering quality, and venturing into “mass customization” (this intriguing yet increasingly diffused fashion concept).

By skipping the standard wholesale chain (middle man), she sells straight to her final customers from her factory... no stock for her, lower prices for clients. A win-win relationship.

We were introduced by a friend a few months ago, and found out we shared a lot in common. With her love for shoes, desire to fill in market gaps, while addressing one of the most complicated fashion categories... she speaks with confidence over her past 3 years, when she decided to invest in this business. After her baby was born, she noticed her feet had become "fuller", and had grown 1/2 a size... so shoes, once a passion, became not only an issue, but a business idea.

Gina is one of those energetic women that talk their minds, with a strong personality and very direct. She has a 20-year consolidated experience in banking/consulting, and her so far experience shows that she has what it takes to succeed.

Mistakes are part of the process, but it is important to keep looking forward. To never give up - she says.

When we talked over start-up difficulties, she said “well... if you don’t start, you already failed. If you at least start, you already increased your chances of winning”. Very true. Gina built a production line from scratch in Bucharest. After having a hard time convincing suppliers to produce her initial lower volumes, she changed strategy and decided do it herself. She partnered with a production expert and invested in industrial machines, hired a full-time team, and launched her brand officially in June. After one year testing her product potential locally, she paired with both local and Italian shoe experts and entered the complex world of shoes.

Her brand recalls her Italian name version (it is the Italian superlative of Gina), trusts it to Romanian shoes artisans, while importing all materials/components from Italy. The result is a smart product, priced competitively and Made in Europe. I tried them on, on my full 40 size, heel 9cm... and my wide feet approved.

...Interested? Follow her on instagram, and shop her website www.ginissima.com (a simple pump starts at 95€).

We have a consolidated Industry here in Bucharest, plenty of expertise and highly skilled workers - she says.

Indeed, Romania produces for many famous brands, from more casual wedges/flats to mid priced / second lines as well as luxury brands.

Both “combined productions” (products only finished in Italy/France) as well as full “Made in EU” products have become pretty popular these last years - Spain, Portugal and Romania are among those with very good market shares.

Wishing Gina all the success she deserves, I thank her for her precious time. We’ll be looking forward to checking out the brand’s future developments...!

Q&A with Gina

Tell us a little bit more of your background.
I am an Economist, with an MBA in Marketing. I started my career in management consulting in 4 large companies then switched to Banking - covering various roles from Private Banking, Credit Cards to Process Management. I consider myself artistic natively, and painted as a hobby as well as designed furniture. I always looked up to my father - now at age 75 - who worked in the Fashion industry, starting 50 years ago.

Who is your on-line customer for shoes?
Ginissima’s women range from 35-55, they are urban ladies, mostly self employed or professional that prefer comfortable, classically elegant shoes with a twist. Mothers of young kids, they shop late at night or early morning while the children are asleep. They know and appreciate luxury brands but they also buy our shoes, and they love the customization service which we offer now for free.

Which shoe brands inspire you?
Aquazzura, Gianvito Rossi, Sergio Rossi, Prada, Sophia Webster, Charlotte Olympia, Manolo Blahnik.

What can you say to potential clients who might not feel confident buying your product “virtually”?
What I tell them is that return is free, and that we make it to measure, all from Italian materials in an artisanal manner. So they can take a risk, one pair, if they don't like it, we’ll take it back. Out of 500 clients, so far in 3 months, our return rate is under 3%.

How do you feel about Ginissima’s accomplishments so far?
It feels surreal... I always dreamed of this, I still cannot believe it. I actually wake up and go to sleep showing gratitude for it.

What is next for Ginissima?
It is still early to say, but I want to launch the Shoe Configurator, an online tool to allow any woman to design her own shoe in realistic imagery 360 pictures, no fake rendering. Ideally we can automate further production in the coming years.