GUESS WHO - A PROFILE

 Age:
21
Activity:
Shoe designer
Place of Origin:
Medellin
Birthsign:
Leo
Favorite things to do: 

Design, reading magazines, going to good restaurants, listening to 'new age' music, surf the web, share with friends and going out at night.

Favorite music, band: 

Deep Forest, Enigma, U2, Cold Play, Loreena McKennitt, Sarah Brightman.
Hobbies:
Check style.com, watch Sex and the City and  shoes design.
Favorite piece of clothing:
A pair of oxford shoes.
What’s your idea of fun?
To live to the fullest, enjoy small pleasures and to have an open mind.
Favorite career/professional experience so far:
Just designing my shoes, and being the main window dresser for MNG Mango for 2 years
What’s the best thing about your hometown/country?
The weather and it's people.
Honestly, what do you think of the fashion Industry In Colombia?
I think we are more open to trends thanks to retailers like ZARA and Mango, as an industry we are in progress, but it is true there is still a lot of road ahead, still our competitivness grows everyday.

Favorite artist (any kind):
Christian Loboutin
Place you would love to visit:
Paris
Currently you’re obsessed with/about: 

My shoes, and shoe designs.
Where can we see your work?

At my facebook group: Daniel Alcaraz Shoes

http://danielalcarazshoes.blogspot.com/
El Tesoro Shopping Mall in Medellin at  the MariaAngelicaGuerra store.

Daniel Alcaraz is a Colombian shoe designer. Born and  living in Medellin his work have been widely showcased in Latin American fashion media. This Colombian is a self-taught designer on the rise, product of his devotion to fashion accessories and  the Sex and the City shoe-mania, although he prefers a Louboutin over a Manolo. His  work is openly and very much influenced by the french designer from whom he collects 7,5 size shoes  and let his close girlfriends wear them occasionally, aside from having a quite 'Loboutounise' shoe signature that accompany his designs, scanning his work the Alcaraz shoe shape has reduced (as the Louboutins dictated) for the better. Since long shaped shoes tend not to look as chic if the length is not applied to the right shoe form, that's why in recent years the fashionista crowd kept falling for 'the higher the better' philosophy... that's what makes the shape less longer = more sexier.

He has a vast clientele who support and cult-follow his talent, the same one that made him the leading window dresser  for the Spanish brand Mango and their stores in Colombia, a title he not longer holds but that allowed him to get deeper in the retail and fashion industry and the know how of a fashion business. Although his forte  are shoes and creating having in mind  women in a variety of situations,  something that eventually makes us think in  high heels as social elements that determine femenine behavior in accordance to an specific environment. His favorite applied materials are suede and exotic leathers, peep toes are in  his bestsellers among them the 'punk soul' model (pictured above) is the star of his line. 

He says the most important thing in his design process is to create a great cut,  and something we all couldn't  agree more 'the higher the better'. 

Daniel Alcaraz es un diseñador de calzado colombiano. Nació y vive en Medellín y su obra ha sido ampliamente exhibida en los medios de comunicación de  moda de América Latina. Este colombiano es un diseñador autodidacta en crecimiento: producto de su devoción a los accesorios de  moda y la zapato-mania de Sex and the City, aunque él prefiere un Louboutin a un Manolo. Su obra esta  abierta  muy influenciada por este ultimo diseñador francés, de quien colecciona zapatos talla 7,5 que presta a sus amigas cercanas ocasionalmente, aparte de tener un logo-firma 'Loboutounisada' que acompaña a sus diseños. Explorando su trabajo  la forma del zapato Alcaraz se ha reducido con el tiempo (como los Louboutins han dictado) para mejorar. Viendo que los zapatos con  forma alargada tienden a no parecer tan elegantes, si la longitud no se aplica a la forma de zapato indicada el resultado puede ser desastroso, es por eso que en los últimos años la industria de la moda ha seguido la  filosofía de 'cuanto más alto mejor'... eso es lo que hace  la forma menos larga = más sexy.
Él tiene una vasta clientela que apoya y sigue en culto su talento, el mismo que  lo convirtió en  el principal vitrinista para la marca española MNG Mango y sus tiendas en Colombia, un título que ya no tiene  pero que le permitió meterse de fondo en la industria minorista  y el know how de un negocio de  moda. Aunque su fuerte son los zapatos! Que crea con mujeres en una variedad de situaciones en mente, algo que finalmente nos hace pensar en los zapatos como elementos sociales que determinan el comportamiento de una mujer de acuerdo a un entorno específico. Sus materiales favoritos son las pieles exóticas y la gamuza,  los modelos de punta destapada  son  sus best-sellers, entre ellos el modelo "punk soul" (en la foto arriba) es la estrella de su línea.

 Él dice que lo más importante en su proceso de diseño es crear  buenas lineas de  corte,  para que las formas se destaquen y lograr una buena silueta y, algo en lo que muchos no podríamos estar en desacuerdo: "cuanto más altos mejor".

Picture by Esteban Escobar