WELL-HEELED

AFTER LEAVING A CAREER IN FINANCE, LEBANESE-BORN DESIGNER JENNIFER CHAMANDI IS TAKING LUXURY SHOES TO NEW HEIGHTS

Jennifer Chamandi launched her luxury shoe brand just 10 days after giving birth—to identical twins.

Her former colleagues at Merrill Lynch were likely not surprised. Chamandi is, if nothing else, 1) effi cient, and 2) obsessed with shoes. Always has been.

Hustling around the trading fl oor, the London School of Economics grad quickly became known for her signature high heels. She worked at Merrill for seven years, while taking design courses at London’s Cordwainers College and Central Saint Martins. In 2016, she launched her luxury shoe brand. The craftsmanship (each shoe is handmade in Italy) and patented “eye of the needle” stiletto (a gold-plated eye is carved into every heel, allowing a strap to slip through and support the foot) caught the eye of buyers, from Harrods to Bergdorf Goodman to Net-a-Porter.com. And celebrities like Amal Clooney, Meghan Markle, and Anne Hathaway.

Born in Lebanon and now based in London, Chamandi, 35, launched handbags this past spring, and in recent weeks unveiled an online bespoke program, allowing fans to create shoes using some 400 combinations of materials, shades, and heel heights.

Sitting in her London showroom against a pink wall lined with shelves of shoes, Chamandi recently chatted with RESIDE® about her passion for math, effi ciency, and shoes, shoes, shoes. double everything. But now they entertain each other, they have the same homework, same parties. So…it’s very effi cient.

Spoken like a true banker. I always wanted to do shoes, but in Lebanon if you’re not a doctor, engineer, or accountant, you know, there’s a problem. [She chuckles.] I entered fi nance, thinking I’d be there a couple of years. It turned into seven. I was on the structured-products desk, which is very technical, analytical. I’ve always loved mathematics. I’ve always said that shoes are the mathematics of fashion.

Ha! You may be the only person who’s ever seen that correlation. I know. [She laughs.] I’m going to show you something I’ve never shown anyone. One second. [She rifl es through a clear sleeve folder and pulls out a sheet of paper with the image of her two-toned Lorenzo pump, detailed with lines and angles, reminiscent of a blueprint.] Just to show you how my brain works. The strap is parallel to the ground. The heel is perpendicular to the strap. And the outer slant [of the toe-cap] is 45 degrees. Nothing is random in the design.

Given the timing of your children’s birth and your brand launch, it seems fair to say you’re a multitasker. I think it was perfect timing. Had I had the kids before, I would’ve delayed launching. Had I launched the business before, I would’ve delayed kids. So…10 days apart was the perfect storm. It’s like having triplets.

Oddly, that makes sense. Last October, I celebrated fi ve years with the brand and the girls. This is the fi rst year I feel I’m above the surface. When building a business, the fi rst few years are a steep learning curve. Raising kids is the same. And having twins means

Both ready-to-wear and bespoke options are available. Your handbag line, Le 8, shares the same geometry and clean lines. Why eight? Numbers are international. I say “le huit,” but other customers call it “le eight” or “le otto.” Eight is my

lucky number. Each bag’s buckle is in the “eye of the needle” shape, in crystals. For spring 2023 I’m doing the buckle in pearls. When you put two of those “eyes” together it forms a number eight. So it’s not random. Everything’s connected.

And, in this case, charitable—10% of handbag proceeds from your website bene t the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families. They do amazing work [supporting children], especially in the early years. They say the fi rst fi ve years are what molds the individual for life. I’ve just gone through those years with my children. They’re crucial.

All your goods are handmade. Why was that important to you? My factory [outside Milan] is a three-generation atelier. It’s all done by hand. The stitching of every strap on every slingback is done by my manufacturer’s grandfather. That’s why I called this pump after him—the Vittorio. It was our fi rst slingback. He’s so particular about them. And the heels are specially made, costing about 20 times more than a normal heel. Twenty times! That cuts into my margin. But I wanted to have this heel, and that “Made in Italy” stamp.

I’m all about timeless designs. The look of my shoes is classic. You buy a pair, you cherish them, you wear them with diff erent outfi ts. I rewear my shoes all the time. Obviously, I have a business to build, and I want women to buy more than one. But a good shoe will last. This is something clients feel when they see the shoe and slip it on. They feel the craft.

Jennifer Chamandi, shown at left, uses mathematical-level precision to create her shoe lines.