If a person were a shoe - what would she look like?

HEELS WITH SWEATPANTS? ?- WEIGH IN:

SUSHI RAINBOW:

How many people does it take to put the rubber straps on my Sushi Rainbow? Lots of hand work....it takes 2-3 very skilled people. All of my shoes are a labor of love. xoxo

Introducing "Cindy"....

I named her after one of my best girlfriends, which I never usually do. She is new for Spring 2010 and will not be in stores until January 2010, but I like to share a sneak peak with my bloggers (my press guys will kill me for this, but hopefully they won't see it...). Anyway, another dear friend, David Hamsley took these amazing shots. He is a super talented photographer and you can see more of his work at: http://www.davidhamsley.com

I hope you love Cindy as much as I do....xoxo

VOGUE ITALIA /STEVEN MEISEL SHOOT /RD ODYSSEY /I DIE:

VIDEO OF THE SHOOT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f7di5KUAZQ&feature=player_embedded#

MAKING BUCKLES:

I have to go to a different factory for each part of what makes up a shoe. These are raw unfinished buckles at my buckle factory in Italy.

This is the mold that houses a custom designed buckle shape. The hot metal material is then poured into this mold to make the buckles.

Here is the vat of very hot hot hot metal...

Big blocks of metal are melted down to make the buckles.

People have this image of big factories with lots of people in an assembly line making things, but it is really more like a small group of craftspeople working on specific things to perfection. I have separate factories for making my heels, outsoles, zippers, leathers, etc. It's my job to coordinate all of these people to put their work all together into one Ruthie Davis shoe....xoxo

WHY I LOVE ITALY:

I love my Italian friends.

I love the Italian dogs.

I love the Italian decor.

I love the Italian wine, cheese, olive oil and bread.

And most of all, I love the Italian cafe that I drink a lot of while designing my shoes....xoxo