Burbank, Calif.
cydwoq.com
When Rafi Balouzian designs a shoe, he's not thinking about what he's seen on the catwalks. "I never look at what the fashion is for a particular season," says the founder and president of Cydwoq (pronounced "sidewalk"), a 12-year-old shoe company. "I do my own thing: futuristic designs with old-world manufacturing processes."
Balouzian, 50, cites architecture, car design and nature as his main inspirations. Crafted by hand in a small factory, Cydwoq's line of shoes, sandals, bags and belts are made to order almost entirely from Italian vegetable-tanned leather for retailers and individual customers around the world. Stocked in 200 stores in the U.S. and overseas, Cydwoq's shoes range from $200 to $550. Balouzian keeps the price tag down by having no sales reps, no advertising, and very few administrative employees beyond himself and his wife.
"The product is my best advert," he says. "Keeping overhead low is a necessity if you want to produce in the U.S. and survive in the shoe industry." - Malika Zouhali-Worrall
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