Enrico Cuini is a shoe brand founded by Tayrn Rose, an orthopedic surgeon, and Enrico Cuini, an architect. The shoe brand uses a patented ALIA technology in giving their customers the utmost comfort.
The journey of the brand started when Enrico sketched shoes for Taryn’s first shoe collection, seventeen years later, Enrico’s love for shoes made him develop the “Wing Shoe” technology which forms the baseline of Enrico Cuini today.
With twenty-six patents in different countries, the cutting-edge technology ALIA, Active LIFT In Alignment is made from titanium, carbon fiber, and nanotechnology resins that give the utmost comfort even in heels.
According to the website, ALIA “decreases pressure by increasing the surface area to dissipate force across the entire sole”. Also, it increases stability by supporting the medial, lateral, and transverse arches of the foot.
Enrico Cuini has become a well-known brand for comfortable heels among celebrities, continue reading for featured heels.
Nikita Platino Nappa
Beautiful gold stilettos accentuated with a side transparent design, Nikita Platino Nappa is available in four fits for the average proportioned feet, slender feet, wide feet, and extra-long feet.
Nina Blue Leopard Cavallino
Patterned shoes hit differently, a mix of blue, brown, and black, the elegance of the design is eye-catching. With a price tag of $1200, Nina Blue Leopard Cavallino is perfect for women who want to add a pop of color to their feet.
Also, we were able to get up close and personal with the brand designer, Enrico Cuini. Here’s what he has to say:
Beverly Hills Magazine: Tell us a little bit about yourself…Where you grew up, family, currently living, hobbies, etc?
Enrico Cuini: I was born and raised in the Marche region where some of the biggest brands make their shoes. I live in the town of Porto S. Giorgio right across from the beach so I get to drive along the Adriatic Sea coast every day on the way to work. My mother and father divorced when I was 8 years old and I was raised by my father with my two sisters. He was really strict but great at all sports so he instilled in us athletic skills and a competitive drive.
At 14, I became the European champion for windsurfing and was considered for the Italian Olympic team ( it was decided that I was too young and light for the big winds of Los Angeles so I was not chosen). Even though I was such a high-performance athlete my father didn’t believe in spoiling kids with material things so before I was sponsored, I had to shape my own boards. That gave me the knowledge about resins, carbon fiber, fiberglass, and also the skills to be able to see shapes and volumes with quite accurate measurements. Taryn calls it my party trick that I can tell what size people wear just looking at their feet.
I studied art in school and even when I was a teenager, I would hand paint sneakers to give to my crushes. I’ve always loved shoes with the earliest memories of my mother wearing her beautiful red stilettos. However, I went into architecture and industrial design first because I liked the engineering side of design as well. Twenty years of building and restoring buildings, designing lighting and furniture gave me the background to design shoes as not only beautiful objects but functional and engineered products. Shoes are not merely ornamental or an accessory, they can make or break your day.
Beverly Hills Magazine: How did you get into the fashion industry?
Enrico Cuini: In 2013 I had the opportunity to start a clean slate after my last project in Rome finished. I decided it was time to follow my dream of making shoes. I studied books on foot anatomy and apprenticed with an old-school shoemaker. After several possible design positions didn’t pan out, I was meditating in a pool to figure out what I should do and a vision of my partner Taryn Rose came to me. We had met 17 years before and I always admired her for her vision that women could have beautiful, sexy shoes that didn’t kill their feet. I jumped out of the pool to try to find her and luckily there is Facebook so I sent her a message.
Beverly Hills Magazine: Who or what are your creative inspirations?
Enrico Cuini: Taryn Rose, my partner is my muse and I designed it at first for her. Our top seller the Francesca mule came because I had made her a slingback bootie that she never really wore so one day when she was at the grocery store, I cut off the slings and made it a mule. When she came back, she couldn’t wait to put them on and said “this is a top seller”
Beverly Hills Magazine: What do you think of the Fashion World?
Enrico Cuini: There is a lot to be appreciated about the fashion world which combines artistry with practical execution. It can also be painful to watch some of the hype without any substance or such ridiculous designs that make you wonder if the designer thinks women or men should be ridiculed. However, at its best, it is one of the best art forms that is quite personal.
Beverly Hills Magazine: What do you love about it?
Enrico Cuini: I love making women look beautiful and changing their posture and silhouette just by stepping into our shoes. You can wear the simplest clothes and elevate your entire look with a great pair of heels. You can elevate your mood by wearing our heels with our ALIA technology.
Beverly Hills Magazine: What do you dislike about it?
Enrico Cuini: I dislike the hype without substance that I sometimes see. Related to that is when I don’t see the value of the product given the price. I don’t like chasing after trends and prefer to create shoes with a timeless look and enduring value.
Beverly Hills Magazine: What is your favorite shoe style to design?
Enrico Cuini: Heels! Always heels and preferably stilettos
Beverly Hills Magazine: Tell us about your creative design process?
Enrico Cuini: Enrico Cuini designs are created to empower the wearer and be comfortable. You don’t need to give up style for comfort. When creating a new shoe, whether it is for a woman or a man, I am inspired by a lot of different elements, whether it be the season, the city I am in, the people I am talking to, really anything. I am an architect and designer by trade and I use the world around me to create the different styles that make up our collections.
Beverly Hills Magazine: What makes your brand unique?
Enrico Cuini: Unique to Enrico Cuini is our proprietary patented technology called ALIA which stands for Active Lift In Alignment. It is the world’s first dynamic support system for your feet and the most lightweight and low-profile support so it can be integrated into sexy high heels.
Beverly Hills Magazine: What is your definition of style?
Enrico Cuini: Style is a personal expression with confidence.
Beverly Hills Magazine: What are some current shoe fashion trends?
Enrico Cuini: Ankle wrap sandals, thong sandals, puffy sandals…must be climate change because I have sandals on my mind. Or it could be Taryn saying we need more sandals in the collection.
Beverly Hills Magazine: How do you prepare to create a new shoe design?
Enrico Cuini: There’s no preparation it’s like falling in love…it just happens.
Beverly Hills Magazine: Does your spirituality play a hand in your creative process?
Enrico Cuini: I believe the divine is in all of us. It can be expressed when we are relating with one another and in a relationship with ourselves. To care for one another is divine. That’s why my shoes elevate soles. I want to lift people’s moods and help them maintain a sense of balance physically and spiritually so that they are more likely to be in touch with their inner divinity.
Beverly Hills Magazine: How do you balance your spiritual and professional life?
Enrico Cuini: Life is divine… there is no need to balance when your work is the expression of spirituality.
Beverly Hills Magazine: How has GOD played a hand in your life?
Enrico Cuini: God who lives within me has always guided me.
Beverly Hills Magazine: Do you believe you are living your purpose?
Enrico Cuini: Yes absolutely. There is nothing better than to make people’s lives better.
Beverly Hills Magazine: What can our readers look forward to from your future collection?
Enrico Cuini: I’m working on really a really unique group of flat sandals. There will be a flip flop, ankle strap, and gladiator silhouette. Our clients wear our shoes to work and to party and now they want them for vacation too.
Beverly Hills Magazine: What advice would you give to aspiring shoe designers out there?
Enrico Cuini: You must learn the technical side and the execution. It’s not enough just to be able to draw a pretty sketch.
Beverly Hills Magazine: Any exciting news coming up, partnerships, store openings, events?
Enrico Cuini shoes are sold exclusively online but throughout the year we hold a series of limited-time pop-up events throughout the country. Our Fall series is coming up, with our first event taking place in Beverly Hills from Aug. 12-Aug. 15. These events are reservation only, which can be set up on our website at www.EnricoCuini.com.
Good reviews have been trailing the brand on how very comfortable they have made heels to be, also celebrities such as Carrie Underwood, Tyra Banks, Saweetie, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas are all regulars of Enrico Cuini. You can wear the shoes all day and night and not feel pain anywhere on your feet. You can check their website to make orders for your shoes or learn more about the ALIA technology.
