Miista brings together opposites in deliberate juxtapose; embodying an elegant balance in the unusual through an informed marriage of design, material and craft.
"I grew up in Galicia, Northern Spain - but before long my eyes grew too wide. I packed up and moved to London’s East: Hackney, looking to perfect my craft and by 2010 I felt I was ready to start my own label. We launched Miista with the intention to play with shapes and materials without sacrificing quality, wearability or price - and we have been designing shoes from our East London studio ever since.
Miista unites the nostalgia of my rural Spanish heritage with a modernist female sentiment, translating cinematic, surreal, and retrospective inspirations into timeless styles rendered in Italian leathers and unexpected materials. It’s a pastiche of all those childhood memories of a beautiful farm on the Atlantic coast of Galicia, dropped like a stranger into a contemporary East London setting.
Although we have expanded a lot since 2010, growth has been organic and we’re still an independent company with a small, passionate team - but the core of our vision and success are our craftswo/men in Alicante, Spain; home to a highly skilled shoemaking community that has been upholding tradition since the 19th century."
- Laura Villasenin, Founder
These are their stories.
-
”Good taste is important”
- Jose Pattern Cutter -
”I create small sculptures”
- Fran Last Maker -
”Fight with the leather”
- Chuti Clicker -
”The problem is that I love it”
- Maite Stitcher -
”You have to match the pieces”
- Paqui Stitcher -
”when a nice woman wears them, wow”
- Paco Line manager -
”The shoe must be perfect”
- Salva Laster -
”I love to look at the styles”
- Irene Packing manager -
”We hold hands a lot”
- Isaac Product development director
The name “Miista” pr. /m.ï.s-ta/ is a playful bending of conventions in salute to the worldly and irreverent modern woman. Femininity isn’t just comfort it is comfortable shoes. Femininity is non-disposable, quality, keep-me leather goods. It’s informed, wearable and non-prescribed. We could go on... but shoes are a good place to start.