Emma Distinction Story
A few months and a baby later!
The pandemic has changed our lives and the lives of many entrepreneurs. In 2020, when I decided to create my brand of leather pumps, created in France and made in Spain, the goal was to open my online store in the first half of 2021.
Although the first samples arrived in early April, the rest was much more complicated. Between delays and deadlines, production was constantly postponed. The summer passed, and finally the workshop closed its doors. My Spanish consultant is looking for solutions. One possibility was to consider delivery at the end of 2021… But, as the quality of the first samples was not up to scratch, the project was postponed again.
The birth of our little Estrella on January 24th 2022 fills us with happiness. My Spanish consultant finally finds a reliable family workshop that meets my quality expectations! Samples, decisions, shots for the online store, definition of the production schedule, logistics… We had to start all over again, almost from scratch!
May 2023: mission accomplished! I am so proud to present Précieuse, the first model signed Emma Distinction. Discover this timeless and naturally distinguished high heel pump by clicking here.
Emma Counil
As early as elementary school, Emma developed her entrepreneurial spirit by selling toffees, candies she made with sweetened condensed milk, and then, in middle school, doughnuts she fried in a large pan heated over a wood fire.
In high school, more daring than her friends in Gabonese society, driven by her taste for fashion, she did not hesitate to venture into the streets of Libreville to find nuggets. She follows the arrivals, negotiates, buys for herself and very quickly, also sells some pieces to her classmates.
Women as well as young girls around him trust his talent to find beautiful deals without making concessions to the quality of materials and finishes.
Naturally, when she arrived in France to study at business school, she continued to devote part of her free time to her trading activities in the world of elegance.
She honed her business acumen in the export market, both as a personal shopper and by developing a sales network, then by creating a boutique in her home country.
As she sees entrepreneurship as a major vector of independence and autonomy, she encourages people close to her to start their own business.
Her passion for beautiful shoes was revealed during an internship in agribusiness in southern Spain, during which she took the opportunity to explore the world of high-end footwear by visiting factories and manufacturing workshops. Attentive to comfort, finishes, beautiful materials, seduced by the know-how she discovers, she informs herself, questions, sharpens her eye, acquires a certain expertise and shares her best addresses “made in Spain”.
While the world of fashion fascinates her, it is in the steel sector, within an international company, that Emma makes her career. Evolving in the world of industry does not make her lose her taste for elegance on a daily basis. Her look, always chic and distinguished, is appreciated by her colleagues who do not hesitate to ask her for style advice.
In 2020, as a matter of course, she decided to carry out a project that had been close to her heart for a long time: creating Emma Distinction, her own brand of high-end shoes to share her passion with all women wearing sizes 37 to 43.
The creation
When, in 2020, Emma decided to create her own brand of high-end shoes, she could rely on the close ties she had maintained with professionals and workshops in southern Spain.
First, she is looking for specialized designers with recognized skills to accompany her in the creation phase of her first collection, designed in France and manufactured in Spain. She began talking with Angel Alonso Azorin, an experienced designer who has developed a consulting activity within the new agency Conshoeltancy.
The elegance of the lines in the service of manufacturing, quality materials and comfort as imperatives, Emma elaborates with him the specifications which will be used for the first sketches.
It also brings its signature, with each model, a small crystal stone placed at the end of the stem and a color code for the interior leather. She chose royal blue and gold for the first and for the lining, fuchsia that is also found on the toe of the heel, as a nod to her dreams of princess and a certain idea of aristocratic elegance.
The first collection was designed around the Précieuse: the timeless and naturally distinguished high-heeled pump.
Emma has already defined the lines of other models, in particular sandals which, always in the spirit of the pump, will play with ornaments and different heel heights. To be continued!