Designer Ryan Campbell began her journey as a shoe artisan by designing custom sandals for adults. But when she designed a mini pair for tiny toes, she fell head over heels – pun intended.
As it turns out, good design and quality craftsmanship runs in the family. “My mom (and Zuzii design partner) invented the Ansa baby bottle when I was just a baby,” Ryan writes. “I grew up around product development and mass manufacturing.” Yet when it came time to choose a manufacturer for Zuzii, her premiere line of quality shoes, accessories and headwear for kids, Ryan set her sights on one country: her’s.
“Our whole team puts forth a huge effort to buy American-made and yes, these products do come at a premium, but in this economy there’s nothing more important to us,” Ryan writes in an interview with retailer Brika. “By shopping small, we collectively can have a huge impact on the growth of the economy.”
Although the costs of her designs reflect the quality pieces she sources (shoes start at $50, accessories at $10), it’s a small price to pay for an American gal seeking to better our economy. “This is exactly what I love to do,” she writes. “Making products with a soul and a story.”
And those are footsteps I’d gladly follow.
Image Credits: Zuzii
p.s. More polka dot shoes.
Please, please consider restarting the Ansa baby bottle with your mother! Those bottles were beyond clever, and they could be designer quality too. I’d love them for my grandchildren.
Please, please consider restarting the Ansa baby bottle with your mother! Those bottles were beyond clever, and they could be designer quality too. I’d love them for my grandchildren.