“High-end, quality, comfortable shoes, and custom designs.” That’s the ethos of TadazzleMe, a shoe label run by entrepreneur Timi S. Her customized pieces range from casual sneakers to high-end runway looks, and today, Schön! dives deep into her story to uncover her background, inspiration, and where she sees TaDazzleMe going in the future.
For Timi, her love for shoes comes from a family tradition. “My grandfather owned several stores and shoe stores throughout the country,” she recalls. “I decided that I wanted to design the shoes versus being only a shoe store owner.” To fulfil this dream, she immediately set to work, crafting shoe designs in her head before eventually putting them to paper, a process she says she began at five or six years old.
However, shoe design wasn’t the only career path Timi had set out for herself. On top of designing shoes, she also practices in the medical field, something she says has at least partially influenced how she approaches shoe design. Medicine, she says, teaches you the importance of a “work ethic and being able to have time management skills.”
image credit opposite. OFSG and Fashion Mingle
“These are things you learn in college as well,” she continues. While shoe design is now her primary focus, she still holds a strong affinity for the medical field. “Medicine is fun and rewarding, so I step in and out of it from time to time,” she says. Additionally, Timi claims she’s found several ways to keep both these practices active simultaneously. “I also design shoes that are orthopaedic — this is where the medical piece of my life overlaps [with design],” she shares. “These women are so happy when they get their shoes.”
When Timi designs a shoe for a new client, she says the experience is both personal and rewarding. “[When I make] custom designs, I have customers come into the boutique, and their foot is measured the old fashioned way because that way still works,” she explains. This personalisation and attention to detail are important when she’s working with clients with specific interests. “I have a special love for little women’s shoes. That’s a specialty,” she says. “These customers — women and men with smaller feet under size 5 — are adults who want an adult, good looking, elite shoe.”
As far as the inspiration for her shoes is concerned, Timi is reticent about divulging too many details. “This question is really hard for me to answer, [and] I have been asked this so many times,” she starts. “Usually, I use the shoe as a canvas, and I design in my mind. There’s no real inspiration behind the design — [it’s] just in my mind.”
Regardless of where each shoe’s inspiration is found, Timi is proud of the work she has done with TaDazzleMe. “Some of [the shoes] are more special than others because of the inspiration behind them,” she notes. “All the shoes I design mean a lot to me. I put everything into them.”
Pouring her heart and soul into her label has brought her considerable success, she says. According to Timi, the label has a long list of accomplishments to its name, with more being added by the day. “[TaDazzleMe] has already been in the movies, TV shows, and on celebrity clientele,” she details. “I’ve put my shoes in PR showrooms, and they have been selected by film stylists and celebrities.”
“I put my designs on the runway in LAFW and NYFW, and I’ve had my own exclusive show in NY at NYFW with Oxford Fashion Studio,” Timi continues. “I was the — and still am the — official shoe sponsor for Art Hearts Fashion.
This means all of my designs and other designs that I had in my boutique were on all models in the show for NY and LA with this production.” Her relationship with Art Hearts Fashion is a particularly special one, she says. “Art Hearts Fashion honoured me, my company and designs in Times Square in NY one year during NYFW,” Timi remembers. “My name and face were in lights. I was not able to go, but I was able to see it on a video. I was sad I could not make it.”
No matter where Timi and TaDazzleMe go next, if you like what you see, be sure to keep an eye for future projects — and maybe see the label’s name in lights all over again.
Follow TadazzleMe and Timi S. on Instagram to keep up to date.
all shoes. TadazzleMe by Timi S.
photography. Jaime Lim
designer + talent. Timi S.
hair + make up. Reyna Khalil
make up. Veronica Becerra
