Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Anas Younis Shanaah, the ‘sole man’ of the Middle East, touched down in the kingdom to meet his adoring fans and share his passion for the art of shoe design.
Fashionistas were hot on the heels of the founder of the Aennis Eunis label to catch a glimpse of his signature designs at Saks Fifth Avenue in Bahrain City Centre and get his John Hancock on their favourite designer footware and shoe sketches.
The 43-year-old Palestinian/Jordanian designer looked cool and collected as he chatted with one shoe-enthusiast after another, smiling as they thanked him for his creations and for making their feet look ‘oh, so pretty’.
Divine, the designer’s sexy, strappy, killer-heeled offering, was a favourite with shoe-fanatic Mae Shami, who lives in Reef Island. The 33-year-old head of corporate communication for an oil and gas company, said: “I’m drawn to the calligraphy because it represents an Arabic woman, but not the traditional type.
“He makes the shoe look elegant and sexy at the same time, which I think is what every shoe should be. The contrast is very attractive.”
Arabian Gulf University student Shaikha Bukamal, 18, from Isa Town, brought her Aennis Eunis shoes to be signed by the man himself. She said: “I’m a big fan of his and I love his designs because they are so unique. When I bought my shoes here it was love at first sight!”
According to Mr Shanaah when it comes to designing a great shoe it all starts with attitude. He said: “It is the first thing I think about. Is it soft, aggressive or is it trying to be cute? When you have the right attitude for a shoe, then anything you put on top is going to work.
“I’d like to say that comfort is important, while I do pay a lot of attention to that, I know for a fact that if a woman loves a shoe then she won’t care what it feels like on.
“Comfort is not a selling point; it’s a bonus. It’s really about how it makes you feel when you wear it. The shoe could be beautiful, ugly or plain. If you feel great in it, then that’s all that matters.”
Mr Shanaah’s career began in the basement of a villa in Jordan, along with a team of designers, sketching away and coming up with wild, new shoe styles that combined a modern allure with Arab-esque flair.
Two years later the style guru moved his offices to Italy where his love affair with leather goods kicked off. He said with a smile: “How I got into shoe design? Well, I guess you could say I slipped into it!
“It’s like a full circle. I started in Florence learning about artisan leather. Then I worked on displaying shoes and then back to designing. I feel like it was bound to happen, but still I would never have imagined this success.”
The architecture and industrial design graduate left Jordan’s Amman in 1992 for a year in the Italian city of Florence where he began his career in design, working closely with experts in the leather goods field.
He then moved to New York, one of the four big fashion capitals of the world, spending 15 years collaborating with high-end retailers, including Macy’s, Kenneth Cole and Nine West, creating their shoe displays and visual branding. He also studied his Masters degree in industrial design at Pratt Institute.
New York was a great starting place for Mr Shanaah, because if it wasn’t for his regular 2am stroll down Madison Avenue, then perhaps the idea of creating his own brand would have never come to him. He said: “One of my favourite hobbies was taking a trip down Madison Avenue to admire window displays. During one of my walks I saw a store with an Asian calligraphy theme.
“That’s when it really hit me ... Arabic calligraphy! It has so much sensuality and artistic value and nobody is taking advantage of it.
“I almost did my Master’s thesis on Arabic calligraphy. I was obsessed with it, but then again I have always been inspired by my culture.
“We have such rich, beautiful elements that make us Middle Eastern, from the spices to the music; everything around us is saying ‘we are so different’. So, why can’t we show it in a sleek, trendy style that any European would drool over? We have what it takes.
“I sell in Ukraine and Slovakia and showcase in Milan. I want people all over the world to see how beautiful our designs are.”
When he moved back to Jordan, Mr Shanaah started working on several projects with Arabic calligraphy as the theme. “I had my first ‘shoe experiment’ participating in a trade show in Abu Dhabi. I got a lot of positive feedback and people liked the idea. So, I went one step further and now we are in our sixth, seventh or eighth collection – I have lost count,” he said.
His first generation of shoes were named after the designers he worked with, such as a sexy high-heeled offering, entitled Nour and a sassy flat called Mai. Eventually the names evolved into more sensual tones such as Hickey, Love Bite and his larger-than-life giant red shoe exhibited in the mall’s Galleria for Fall for Fashion called Rug Burn.
He went on to explain the reasoning behind the names but, being a conservative family newspaper, the Editor felt it better left to the readers’ imagination.
The Aennis Eunis fall/winter shoe collection is now available at Saks Fifth Avenue starting from BD150 to BD300.
