She opened a second store in an apartment with Hong Kong designer Toby Liu, who now works for D-Mop.
“I started to get frustrated because I couldn't find the clothes I wanted, so we co-operated in making clothes. We made what I wanted.”
But after two years she closed this store because its costs were too high for the market. It was her first and so far only failure.
“I realized it was easier to buy stuff than make myself. Also, I learned a lesson about marketing and selling. You have to think harder before you start something. You have to prepare well.”
So she moved to Taipei's East district five years ago and did it with a splash of publicity by starting Omni (“all things”) with Chairman Chou, who's into retro fashion, furniture and classic cars.
“When I was young I liked antiques and clothes and mother's shoes, but her feet were so small I couldn't wear them. I went abroad to find vintage shoes because customers wanted them. I realized shoes were the most important part of clothing.”
Chen decided to found her own label and her dad found a manufacturer of hand-made shoes in South Korea. She has her shoes made from drawn designs.
She designs the shoe, picks the materials and then works with the manufacturer to make a sample.
“I do not have formal training, that's why I'm different and successful. Comfort is very important, for the back and for the feet. My shoes are not cheap but I have repeat customers because they last a long time and are classic rather than trendy. Value is the important thing.”
“Obviously, though,” she adds, “they also need to be sexy. All women want to be sexy, the heel is sexy.”
Chen has one other policy when it comes to shoes. She does not discount since she believes they have the quality of, say, Manolo Blahnik, but sell for NT$10,000 less.
“Many people when they come in they want discounts. But we don't do them, there's too much work that goes into these shoes. That's the policy, they are limited editions, and you won't see them anywhere else. You can't borrow them, you can only buy them.”
Chen says this policy even applied to Vivian Hsu when she made The Shoe Fairy (人魚朵朵), a film about a cripple who is in love with shoes but can't wear them. Obviously, Honey Daniels shoes were featured, but they came at a price.
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