Anita Flavin: A Top-Notch Irish Shoe Designer and Fashion Entrepreneur Shares her Awe-Inspiring Success Story

Anita Flavin is an exceptionally talented and accomplished Shoe Designer. She shares her spectacular success story with Namita Nayyar, President Women Fitness.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: You after graduating in Fashion Management Business and Finance from the London College of Fashion, lived in Aspen, Colorado. You then became part of the Obermeyer team which is the USA's second in ski and snowboarding wear and you were drawn towards world of business fashion. Later you were on London's monopoly board at Office, London in their buying and design department of footwear fashion and hence your life in footwear commenced. You reached the pinnacle of success on becoming the Creative Director at iconic Ennio Mecozzi Ladies Luxury Footwear. Tell us more about this successful professional journey of yours?
 

Ms. Anita Flavin: I attended school in London and to be honest my main aim of those formative years was to break free from the educational system that was imposed on us. In one classroom I looked out the window onto a train track. I always wanted to venture onto the other side of the track and beyond. I knew there had to be more to life than what we were been told about in the classroom. I was encouraged by my family to do well in my exams which I did as I realised that would be my foundation and will enable me to pursue other avenues.

After leaving school I was offered several jobs, I decided the position which most reflected my personality and personal interests was at John Lewis Partnership. A college attended John Lewis to teach us BTEC in Retail Distribution which was brilliant as the thought of going back into a classroom traumatised me. What I learnt during my BTEC in Retail Distribution has taught me the fundamental foundations in operating and working within the retail sector. I was sixteen and travelled each day from the suburbs into London and worked alongside approximately 2000 people all from various walks of life. I would honestly say that this grounding and education at the beginning of my career installed in me invaluable lifelong attributes of working alongside others, as well as impeccable professional codes of conduct and how to treat other people with respect and dignity.

Being privileged to live in one of the major cities in the world and also having a great love of city life I felt my energies were being drawn to having a real taste of life in a cosmopolitan city also at the same time embellishing myself in learning about health and beauty. I was offered a position at the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salon at the Dorchester Hotel. I felt honored that I was chosen to represent the Dorchester and Elizabeth Arden and being at the forefront of such an enormous high end international project. During my time in this position I learnt at first hand the importance of investing in oneself of their well being and how I present myself to the world is a reflection of the person I am. This was an amazing time for my personal self- development being so young and mixing with different cultures from all over the world. There did come a point though where I felt that I had the potential to excel myself and contribute more of myself into a profession of what I was passionate about. I decided to further my education in something I felt passionate about which for me was fashion.

However before I committed myself fully to my new endeavour I travelled and lived in Ibiza and Los Angeles. In Ibiza being a girl that could turn my hand to lots of different jobs I became a cleaning lady for the Irish and British people that resided on the island. This meant that they trusted me with the keys to their homes which was rare for them do so with people. I was treated with the up most respect and rewarded numerically and also became part of their island life with weekly trips on yachts and invitations to all the island social events. Ibiza has a spiritual side to life which I found intriguing and was eager to tap into.

After my time in Ibiza I moved to Los Angeles and became PA to Micky Murchan, who owned Top Deck Rigging and who worked on major movies from the early 1970's onwards with legends such as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Blake Edwards, Peter O'Toole and George Lucas. After the Earth Summit of 1992 George Bush Senior gave permission to Steven Spielberg to introduce steel, tube and fitting into the American movie industry. Prior to this wood was used which was not workable anymore, caused complications and safety problems for what was in store for future movie production. It was during this time that we were planning the special effects and set construction of the world's most impressive movies of that era. Our first major success was Jurassic Park, then Star Gate at the Spruce Goose. Due to the pioneering methods that Top Deck Rigging introduced to the US movie industry this was the first time that sets were constructed on location which meant they could be a larger scale to accommodate the demands of the script more so than the studios were able too.

We also worked on True Lies, Free Willy, and Batman 2 which also was at the Spruce Goose. It was an amazing time of my life, my job was very orful and my world consisted of many movie sets, we worked six days a week and extremely long hours each day. Mick was a legend himself amongst all that knew him. I would assist Mick all day, every day attending meetings with the producers and directors of each movie, ensuring all plans were actioned, locating special effects locations especially for True Lies, we visited and ensured the smooth operations of all the movie sets that we were working on and generally socializing and living in that world. I was excited by life and made many good friends.

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