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Lianna Gunawan..My Inspiration
Liana Gunawan is
La Spina Collections, INDONESIA
La Spina Collections designs and produces
hand-made shoes that highlight Indonesian culture and heritage using
traditional fabrics and craftsmanship.
Like many women, Lianna Gunawan loves shoes. But while most will
assuage this passion through shopping, this former retail and marketing
professional has taken it one step further and created her own shoe
company! Entrepreneurship crept up on her unexpectedly: ‘I always worked
in a corporate culture,’ she explains, ‘but when I took time out to
become a mother, I was scouting the Internet for shoes and decided I’d
get an artisan to make me some.’ She had so many compliments and
requests for similar shoes, she started to get them made for friends and
built up the idea from there: ‘in my living room!’
Having
bootstrapped La Spina Collections in 2010, Lianna soon wanted to take
her company further. Government initiatives to promote Indonesian crafts
and heritage struck a chord with her. ‘I decided that would be the core
value of my business: hand-made Indonesian shoes, using uniquely
Indonesian materials.’ She is intent on debunking home-grown notions
that ‘Made in Indonesia’ means cheap and cheerful. For this young
entrepreneur, La Spina is about much more than a pair of shoes: ‘you’re
wearing a piece of our culture and heritage as well.’
Indonesian savoir-faire
Fridays
are ‘batik day’ in Indonesia, to encourage people to wear the country’s
traditional dye-resistant fabric, the making of which is a veritable
art form. La Spina has integrated batik into its shoes, using the
hand-stamped variety, because it is still 100% handmade. ‘It’s far more
challenging to use than leather or synthetic uppers, you have to
structure the textile and develop linings to shape it,’ says Lianna.
Other Indonesian specificities include rattan heels or woodcrafts from
Jakarta, which are more commonly seen in furniture or statues.
‘Furniture wood is too heavy, so we have the sculptor carve mahoni
wood, an indigenous species, into soles and heels. And we don’t cut
down trees for it either! We buy leftover wood scraps from the Ministry
of Forestry.’
Lianna started out creating the designs herself in
collaboration with a pattern-maker, but is now fostering partnerships
with universities to work with young designers and showcase Indonesian
flair. She is stringent about comfort, even in the highest heels. ‘Feet
are precious, so we line our inner soles with the kind of padding you
would find in sneakers or trainers!’ La Spina footwear is sold in four
major retail outlets in Jakarta, from the first concept store for
Indonesian design to the capital’s branch of the department store
Debenhams; the upscale department store Metro; and a stand-alone outlet.
Sales in the first quarter 2012 reached US$86,000 and the first exports
were shipped to Japan last year. Lianna’s goal is to bring
international visibility to her collection to highlight the Indonesian
fabrics and savoir-faire of which she is so proud. In this aim, she
joined the Femina Women Entrepreneur community in Indonesia, which
encouraged her to submit an application for the Awards. ‘I’m so excited
to be going to France, the land of high fashion, as a finalist. My next
dream would be to see La Spina in a Parisian department store!’
The
company is currently at maximum production capacity and preparing to
scale up this summer, for Lianna has just achieved one of her prime
objectives: La Spina has been contracted to make shoes for the cabin
crews of Indonesia’s national airline, Garuda Indonesia. ‘We’re thrilled
to showcase Indonesian quality and design with a major ambassador for
our country,’ says Lianna. ‘I’ve been scouting for craftspeople for
months to be able to respond to the corporate market, and am set to hire
two dozen more artisans alongside our 20 current employees.’
Best foot forward
To
differentiate itself from the competition and heighten awareness of the
quality of its product, La Spina has made its after sales service a
competitive advantage. ‘We offer to exchange our shoes if they don’t fit
well, an extremely rare service in Indonesia, alongside a full
guarantee: we repair any potential manufacturing defect and lend a pair
of shoes while you wait!’ There are perks of course too. ‘Obviously I
wear all the shoes!’ she smiles. ‘I personally test them all for comfort
and wearability.’
Don’t let words like ‘traditional’ and
‘artisanal’ lead you astray: La Spina shoe designs have created a
pioneering mix of quality handmade traditions and contemporary style
that’s sharp and feminine; from wedge sandals to cute ballerina flats,
colourful patent brogues or peep-toe platforms and stiletto booties,
there’s a style to fit every budding Cinderella out there. As the
company slogan says: ‘Fashionably Indonesia.’
http://www.laspinacollections.com/