Uzurii Reviews 

Written by the company

A TRUE TALE OF A LITTLE GIRLS DREAM "I'm raised in the AMAZON rainforest and moved at the age of 5 with my mother, sister & grandma to the slums of RIO DE JANEIRO. The new world was totally unfamiliar to me. For the first time in my life I encountered SIMPLE THINGS like water from the tap and my first pair of flip flops." A YOUNG GIRL'S DREAM CAME TRUE For the first 5 years, Shieglee was raised in the depths of the Amazon rainforest, surrounded by outstanding natural beauty. Wanting her family to have the best chance in life, Shieglee’s mother packed up her family and ventured outside the forest to find themselves in and amongst the beautiful chaos that is Rio de Janeiro. ‍ Crazy carnival nights This is where the colours and vibrancy of Rio and its world-famous carnival took hold of a young Shieglee and instilled in her a lifelong passion for extravagant design. Inspired by her surroundings she started to design her own clothes, usually handed down from her kindly neighbour, to make them uniquely hers, upcycling the things she found discarded and left behind from the crazy carnival nights. Her mother noticed that the young Shieglee had an incredible talent for design and understood such a driven young woman needed to express herself. A life changing decision to move to the Netherlands was made to allow her 13 year old daughter the very best chance of fulfilling her dream of becoming a fashion designer First true love The move paid off. Quickly Shieglee made a name for herself as an outstanding fashion design student. Meeting her husband shortly after graduating, family life took over and having been brought up to always put family first, just as her mother had done, Shieglee dedicated her life to raising her children untill they were independent young adults. But throughout it all, she never lost sight of her dream and in the back of her mind, she knew that one day she would get back to her first true love – fashion. Flip flops with hand-crafted finishing In 2011 while on a family holiday back in Rio de Janeiro, Shieglee came across a market stall where a woman was creating her own flip flop designs and like a bolt of lighting, Shieglee’s entire childhood flashed before her eyes. That evening, a business plan was drawn up and the next morning Uzurii Luxury Footwear was born. Shieglee’s designs demand incredible attention to detail and hand-crafted finishing. This meant that in the first year of production alone, Shieglee flew all over the world to personally train more than 100 women. Inspired by her own mother’s incredible work ethic, Shieglee encourages her craftswomen to work from home, allowing them to raise their children, and earn a living. Today, Uzurii can be found in more than 1,400 high end shoe and fashion stores in more than 46 countries. And while the dream has clearly become a reality, Shieglee has kept her passion very much alive, working tirelessly throughout the year on new designs and products to add to her incredible brand – and her life’s incredible story. "I believe in the power of all WOMEN, and that together we can change the world when we follow our DREAMS."See more