“Style is who you are inside,” Gracienne Myers says. The shoe designer likes to attract women who want to try something new. Her distinctive knack for shoe design stems from her Brazilian upbringing. At a young age, Myers would cut and re-sew her mother’s clothing for a look all her own. She left her countryside town for Sao Paulo at age 14 to express her creativity in a floral shop. There, she experimented with unique arrangement designs while saving her money to start a fashion business.

Myers’ determination eventually brought her to the United States where her creative designs could be embraced by daring women seeking something different. Celebrities like Demi Moore and Fergie have embraced her collections, and she’s been featured in LA Fashion Week, Savoir and GenLux.

Myers says the Gracienne woman pairs her provocative shoes with jeans and a t-shirt to spice up her outfit. But she stresses, “above all, they are designed for women who are inspired by change- without looking behind to see who’s watching.”