From a young age, Nicole Saldaña had a creative itch. “My dad was an industrial designer and engineer by trade, but he was always inspired to construct things—cabinetry, light sculptures, and more—in our garage,” the California native explains. “Because I was exposed to that, I got his knack for tinkering.” Saldaña’s love of craftsmanship led her to a fashion design degree from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and another from Parsons in design and management. As a student in New York, she landed a gig working retail at the Opening Ceremony store, and after a few months, the owners Humberto Leon and Carol Lim asked her to join the design team. After working there as a designer for eight years, Saldaña helped Leon and Lim relaunch Kenzo and later went to work for Tory Burch. Now, she’s finally stepping out on her own with an eponymous shoe collection with a downtown sensibility, priced within reach. Launching on August 17, the line includes loafers, clogs, and boots ($310–$650) and is available stateside at Opening Ceremony and Farfetch.
Saldaña’s lug-soled shoes are all handmade in Portugal using Italian materials (some of them unexpected) like velvet, denim, shearling, and suede. “There is a deep history of footwear made in northern Portugal near Porto,” she says. “I wanted to show that technique and quality can be represented at a fair and attainable price point.” Saldaña also wanted to make shoes that other women would really and truly want to wear. As she notes, “All of the styles have been named after my girlfriends, each with their unique and tenacious spirits. I wanted to design a collection that was as diverse as the girls around me but still had a consistent thread that tied it all together.” That thread may just be the shoe collection’s inherent cool factor, but as Saldaña emphasizes, “There should be attention to detail with the construction, finishing, and materials used—that and an aspect of playfulness, of course.”
Above, an exclusive first look at Saldaña’s brand-new kicks.