- Gina Shoes - What You Should Know About The Luxury Footwear Brand

I have no doubt you will have heard of Gina London, for either their unparalleled passion for creating designer footwear, or their paramount place in the world of shoes, handbags and fashion.

Whilst you don’t need anyone to tell you that Gina is one of the most renowned brands in the world, you might be curious as to how it all began, why you should love Gina shoes and handbags, and who across the world has been seen loving them too!

Gina shoes are always made of the highest quality materials, including leather, suede, silk, satin, and even embossed with crystals from Swarovski®. At Gina, they pride themselves on carefully crafting some of the most luxurious, delicate and desirable shoes on the planet.

1954

Every great story begins with a love story, and the Gina story is no different.  Just after the second world war, master shoemaker Mehmet Kurdash was travelling through London, with the destination of Australia in mind when he met Margaret, a Swiss nurse on her way to India to become a missionary.  Falling madly in love, both decided to stay in London and create a new life for themselves, and that is where Gina was created. The Gina brand began in a small shoemakers shop in London in 1954, where Kurdash would create breathtakingly beautiful shoes from the highest quality materials money can buy. Kurdash was so inspired by the elegance and beauty of celebrity Italian Actress Gina Lollobrigida, who at the time was one of the highest profile European actresses, he named his brand after her.

Starting in his workshop based in the heart of East London, Kurdash soon became the forefront of the British designer shoe trade with his Gina designs. In the early days, it would take Kurdash two to three weeks to create one pair of shoes, which would then be wrapped decidedly with care in brown paper before being delivered by his wife,

1991

Moving forward, due to the immense popularity of the Gina brand, a Gina boutique opened its doors in Knightsbridge, London in 1991. Through dedication and passion, Gina maintained its position as the frontier of designer shoe making through unprecedented attention to detail and elegance across their entire range of women’s shoes, sandals, boots and handbags.

1994

1994 led to the formation of the flagship 189 Sloane Street boutique. A luxurious gallery for the bespoke items created within the Gina brand. The decor and design of the boutique is said to mirror that of the shoe designs in beauty and mood, making those who enter feel of equal importance and grace.

1999

In 1999 Gina opened the doors of their couture salon in Old Bond Street, becoming the latest must have indulgence of modern day fashion. The new store grabbed media attention, with extra heads turned to a pair of alligator mules, finished with 18-carat white gold buckles and impregnated with 36 princess cut diamonds. This remarkable pair of slippers went on to become part of the millenium edition Guinness World Records for the most expensive slippers at the time, selling for a staggering £18,000.

2009

 

The first Gina store outside the United Kingdom was established in 2009, taking pride of place in the prestigious Dubai Mall. The new Fashion Avenue store became an idyllic reflection of that of its sister stores in Britain. The new store quickly gained mass popularity in the Middle East, offering up Kurdash’s passion for bespoke designer shoes and handbags across the world.

2011

The fourth Gina store opened its doors in 2011, located in the Mall of Emirates, Dubai. This world class destination is well known for its pride of place as the height of fashion, with many designers simply dreaming of the offer of opening a store. With this vast expansion, Gina London chose to relocate to a significantly bigger state of the art unit in North London to keep up with the ever growing popularity and demand.

2014 - Present

In 2014, Gina acquired a boutique in the exclusive Mayfair’s Mount Street, but with a new concept. The new Gina boutique aims to create a more relaxed approach to luxury designer shopping, whilst still maintaining the traditional values of the Gina brand.

Today, Gina shoes and handbags remain a world renown brand of footwear and handbags. Known for its excellence. The same beauty and grace can be seen in Gina shoes now, as Mehmet Kurdash saw in Gina Lollobrigida when he created the first pair of Gina shoes back in 1954. Gina remains as their last surviving luxury footwear British designer label in London, and continues to flourish year after year.

 

Weddings are the perfect occasion for splashing out on a pair of Gina couture, and many celebrities have thought the same.  Sophie Rhys Jones had a pair designed and created for her wedding to Prince Edward in 1999. 

Many other celebrities have also been spotted parading the Gina brand. Celebrities such as Britney Spears, Victoria Beckham, Kylie Minogue and Jennifer Lopez are all Gina fans and regularly enjoy gorgeous bespoke pairs of Gina shoes.

The celebrity fame doesn’t stop there for the Gina brand though, Princess Diana used to be a regular at the Sloane Street store, and fashion idol Madonna wore Gina shoes on her 2005 album cover for Confessions on a Dance Floor.

If we’ve been successful in sharing Kurdash’s story of love and passion for his life’s work, you will no doubt love these shoes as much as we do.  Of course, shoes of such a desirable quality also come at a price you might expect when buying directly from Gina.  Luckily for you, it is our mission to bring you quality at a price you wouldn’t expect.

Here at Designer Shoes Not Designer Prices, we’re committed to bringing the bespoke feeling of luxury to everyone, and that is why our range of Gina London shoes are the real deal, but affordable.  Whether you’re attending a wedding, christening or other special event coming up, or if you simply want to feel the same things those did when they found their perfect pair of shoes in London in the 1990’s, make sure you check out our Gina range. 

From the Gina London black velvet stilettos to the blue and white quirky peep toe fabric sandals there is a Gina shoe for everyone.  For the full luxury feel, you can even find matching Gina shoes and handbags.  We hope your passion for Gina is as strong as ours is, and once you’ve chosen your dream shoes, you can read all about how to care for them when they arrive at your door by checking out our blog on how to take care of your designer shoes!