ARTISANS OF STYLE

Economics graduate Jennifer Chamandi was a banker before returning to college to learn shoe design: “Don’t dream your life, live your dreams,” is her motto. She launched her own brand in 2016, ten days after giving birth to twin girls; and her unique Eye Of The Needle design was considered an invention by the UK Patent Office for “improvement to footwear design” as the strap actually holds the foot to the shoe resulting in better stability and comfort.

Has your degree in economics helped with designing shoes?

I have always said that shoes are the maths of fashion and take this quite literally when designing, from where fabrics meet, to the ankle strap sitting at a 90-degree angle on the foot. The design of my shoes is very complex: each pair has a hole in the heel, called Eye of The Needle. It is quite the engineering feat to be able to design a completely new way to attach a heel to a shoe that would allow for a hole to pass all the way through.

What would your uniform be when you were a banker?

I have always loved dressing up. I prefer to be overdressed than underdressed in any situation. My go-to uniform was dresses