In an era in which mega-brands and retailers seem to be growing more dominant than ever, designer Ce Ce Chin of shoe brand 80%20 has always been welcome fresh air. Starting as a llifestyle sneaker company in 2005 with her first retail customers lower-Manhattan boutiques, she’s continued to grow, evolve and remain distinct because of a future-seeing design aesthetic that combines edge with ease and packs all that punch at prices the Downtwon trendsetters who adore her can afford. Case in point, the “hidden wedge,” now a popular design element, but truth be told it was Chin’s first. That ability to offer a new design twist on a shoe (like for Spring the open-toe loafer #straightfire above)you can still wear all day is really what defines 80%20 and makes it special.
Chin was in touch with us recently to let us know about an event at the great Shoe Market in Brooklyn, on November10th (a glass of wine AND 15% off all Holiday 2011 80%20 styles), and we asked if she couldn’t answer some quick questions on trends and what she sees coming up for Spring 2012. Here’s what she had to say:
Q: What’s been your overall most popular style for Autumn 2011?
Chin: We have a new style called the Rina (see image on next page), which is a bit like Chelsea boot, but has an 1.5-inch heel and a 2-inch hidden wedge inside. We’re taking the hidden wedge concept further along… It’s so concealed that some people don’t even realize it’s there!
Q: It looks like we’re seeing the return of women wearing sneakers as a lifestyle item with celebs being spotted in brands like Supra and Isabel Marant sneakers. What’s your take on the trend and do you see your brand addressing it?
See Chin’s response on the next page, along with Holiday 2011 and Spring 2012 shoe images.
There is nothing like a ride on a bike on a nice day. Seeing designer Ce Ce Chin’s 80%20 Spring/Summer 2011 video lookbook makes us fiend even more for warm weather. Enjoy!
When we visit the Compass show, a visit with our long-time brand friend 80%20 is always a must. Designer Ce Ce Chin was there, showing her Spring/Summer 2011 line, which has a decidely Bohemian flavor. Here you get a taste of the Spring line and courtesy of 80%20, we give you a peek on the next page of Autumn 2011, which is looking very strong.
As we mentioned, we were in attendance at the 5th anniversary party for 80%20 shoes last night. The event featured a walk down memory lane with a display showing many of the brand’s past designs over the years. The best part though was seeing the many, many people in attendance wearing designer Ce Ce Chin’s shoes! A lot of times at these events you don’t necessarily see tons of the featured brand being worn by the people in attendance, but there is clearly a very loyal following for this brand, part of whose genius over the years has been to offer forward fashion at an affordable price. For that, the downtown girls will probably always love and appreciate Ms. Chin.
Many more images after the jump of both the shoes on display and attendees.
Lots of folks are bright in one form of another, but the great thing about Ce Ce Chin, the head designer for 80/20, is she’s multi-faceted smart–creative, charming, possessing good business smarts, the list just goes on and on, plus she was blessed with amazing looks (woo-hoo, check out her shapely gams in the image above)! It’s almost not fair! Nah, the truth is we couldn’t be happier for Ce Ce, whose brand we have followed since its days back when it was mostly slip-on kicks. And later today we’ll be attending the 5th anniversary of 80/20 to toast all her successes. Look for some images from the event tomorrow. In the meantime, check out her interview on NYMag.
Just returned with Samia from Compass, a trade show that is making its appearance for the first time in New York. It took me the whole show to get to talk to 80%20 designer Ce Ce Chin because, simply put, she had the busiest booth in the place. Chin’s forte has always been to design shoes and boots that are eye-catching and forward, but still emminently wearable, and each year her collection gets better. Spring, featured here and on the flip, had several stand-out styles, including some recolored versions from last year. We couldn’t photograph fall, but it has a bunch of the neatest boots you could ever imagine. See more after the flip, including a couple of pairs now available for preorder at Intermix and an Anthropologie exclusive.
80%20 Designer Ce Ce Chin with Cleveland's Next boutique buyer Steve Silver, who has a total vendor crush on Ce Ce. Check out glimpses of Fall 2009 behind her!
Sometimes when you visit a brand at a tradeshow, your opportunities to photograph stuff that hasn’t already been featured on every streetwear blog in all the land are nonexistent. For example, at Magic, a lot of designers were showing Fall 2009, but many of them wouldn’t allow images to be taken. Natch, small brands live and die by their creative ideas and have to balance the desire for exposure against the desire not to be knocked off non-stop by you-know-which retailers and brands. That was the case with 80%20, Modern Lovers (though I’m fake-mad at Modern Lovers designer Ellen Nguyen ’cause I saw she let MissCrew photograph her bodysuits. What?) and Gourment. Whadyagonnado? What you do is photograph the designers, who are fun to look at themselves and as an added bonus, are willing to give you a sneak peak either because they’re wearing the product or standing in front of it!
There was no way a trip was going to be made to Las Vegas without checking in with 80%20 designer Ce Ce Chin, a longtime fave around these parts. We didn’t get long to chat ’cause Ce Ce was BUSY, but she let us know that response to her line was so positive that she’s thinking of expanding her booth next year. Nice!
Here are some of the more casual elements of Spring 2009, but let it be known that Ce Ce is also expanding the dressier part of her line and it looks fantastic!
Now that this new show, Compass, is in the mix, there’s gonna be a lot of brands that are going to have to decide where it’s best to show. The big dudes can afford to show in both if they please (though note that Converse chose to bypass WSA altogether), but smaller, budget-constrained designers often don’t have that kind of money ’cause trade shows aren’t cheap!.
^^The lovely, talented, smart and funny Ce Ce Chin, designer/owner for 80%20, showed at the WSA, but not one to missed out on the action, we caught her playing hooky and visiting her pals at Compass.
07 February 2008, 19.49 | Posted in Uncategorized | No comments »
FFANY, a big New York shoe show was yesterday so despite our lack of sleep from attending the M.O.B. party the night before, me and Samiya went to check it out. Samiya got some great images of some Faryl Robin gladiator shoes, which I’m sure she’ll post, but the highlight of the day was our visit with Ce Ce Chin, head designer in charge of 80%20.
We photographed her spring line (see images below), and got a peek at her fall line, which is amazing (no images of those–sorry–the knock-off artists in this industry are just to vicious and when you’re a small designer the fact is that all you have is your creativity and if you don’t protect it it absolutely will be stolen).
These were my faves for spring. I WISH so BAD that they came in a size 11 cuz I definitely would buy a pair. And not for nothing, if you are a big foot like myself and also a fan of 80%20, go to her site and plead with her to do size 11s!
Samiya like these flats cuz of the stud detail. The backdrop is a bunch of cool album covers. Designers showed in individual suites in the Hilton and Ce Ce used the albums to cover the beds. She also brought a working turntable!
Anything sparkle I will always love and the profile on these is pretty sweet to boot:
Having interviewed Ce Ce a while back, it was fun to finally meet her. She’s a totally cool chick and even helped contribute a name for our soon-to-be posted Men of Streetwear post.
If you wanna see some of the above styles in action, check out this 80%20 video:
