Chie Mihara

Chie Mihara was born to Japanese parents in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1968. She lived in Japan from age 18 to 22 and studied fashion design in Kyushyu Design Gakkuin. For two years after graduation, she worked for Junko Koshino as a fashion designer assistant. She then moved to New York where she studied accessories design at F.I.T., mainly shoes and handbags. She did an internship at Eneslow, an orthopedic shoe store and then worked at Sam & Libby as a shoe and bag designer. At 27, she moved to Spain where she worked for Charles Jourdan.

Chie launched her own line in December of 2001. She began marketing her collections in Spain via a multibrand channel at high-end establishments in Spain’s major cities, before venturing abroad. In a short time, and based on a natural ability to give her shoes their very own original and easily-recognisable style, she has gained a foothold in markets as difficult as the UK, Japan or Italy, where her designs are greatly admired. Her creations are available in Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Liberty and Fenix, in London, Bergdorf Goodman in New York, or Raspini in Florence. Her immediate goal is to consolidate in the international market and boost her presence in Japan, a market with huge potential.