On Dec. 1, Nina Christen will be honored as 2025 Designer of the Year at the 39th annual FN Achievement Awards. Below is an article from the magazine’s Dec. 1 print issue where she unpacks her creative process, those Dior shoes from Jonathan Anderson’s debut and what makes her imagination thrive.
What Nina Christen wants to do is very straightforward.
“I would love to make a brand that doesn’t compromise on quality and offers the most luxurious product and materials, creating something beautiful,” she said.
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So far, so good.
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In the space of a year, the Swiss Chilean designer has gone from under-the-radar powerhouse working with an enviable client roster that includes Celine, Bottega Veneta, Loewe and The Row to being a purveyor of understated upscale footwear with her own eponymous brand that’s sold by top retailers around the world.
Add to that her role as design director of shoes at Dior (one of the first key hires of the Jonathan Anderson era) and Christen is “undoubtedly on track to become one of the most influential global footwear designers for years to come,” predicted retail executive Yumi Shin, the former chief merchandising officer of Bergdorf Goodman.
After making its debut at Bergdorf Goodman in May, the Christen brand has signed 10 retailers, including Mytheresa, Dover Street Market, Selfridges and Lane Crawford.
“I like big retailers because everyone can go there,” the designer said at the time of the launch. “I wouldn’t say my product is a niche product — many different people can like it and don’t necessarily know me — so it’s very important to just get it out there where it can be accessed.”
Coming soon is the label’s first flagship, on Paris’ Rue de la Paix, where she teased “a more intimate retail experience,” demurring on details to preserve an element of surprise.
What put Christen on the radar is her gift for innovation and technical refinements that turn staples into must-haves and transform out-of-the-box concepts into bestsellers. “It was clear from the start that Nina has a deep understanding of footwear,” said Shin. “Her designs are the work of someone who spent years perfecting her craft, balancing technical expertise with an instinct for beauty and originality.”
A graduate of the Institut Français de la Mode, where a first shoe design for her master’s degree cinched her path into footwear, Christen is never more animated than when she dives into the nitty-gritty of how things are made, such as a stiletto’s ergonomic footbed turned ultralight thanks to the use of carbon components or the je ne sais quoi that comes across in the folds of buttery lambskin used on a tabi ballet flat.
“That’s the nuance of leather,” she said. “It’s so subtle and you perceive it not necessarily [fully, but] you can just feel there’s something.”
Tiffany Hsu, Mytheresa’s chief buying and group fashion venture officer, described the footwear designer’s work as seductive, yet simultaneously timeless and laid-back. “It’s this balance between allure and ease, sophistication and nonchalance that will deeply resonate with our clients,” she said.
Lisa Park, vice president and general merchandise manager of shoes, handbags and soft accessories at Bergdorf Goodman, recalls being drawn to Christen’s “cool, focused energy” at their first meeting. “Her vision for her brand was clear and precise, from everything to the collection itself down to the packaging,” Park said.
And it’s not just her shoes that are chic. Photographer Bilal El Kadhi, who met Christen seven years ago and regularly collaborates with her on visual projects around the brand, lauded Christen’s “elegance that never leaves anyone indifferent,” as well as her “kindness and simplicity, which are an essential part of her aura.” Further deeming her universe and work “truly unique, the perfect balance of detail, purity and timelessness,” El Kadhi said Christen’s clear vision of her creative intentions and direction resulted in organic and fluid collaborations.
Here, Christen discusses her creative process and previews what’s coming next for her label.
When do you feel at your most creative?
“I feel that when I create, I need to be by myself. I really need to be in this bubble with all my research, my inspirations, in an environment that I find inspiring. Then I put together what I want to do by myself. Then I have these workshops to share with my collaborators. My creativity does not thrive if I am in just one place every day and have that routine.
[The way I prefer sharing] is through conversation. I’m not so much into visual research because I feel it leads to recycling of ideas, especially in accessories. So many ideas come out of conversations and talking about things, about [their] functionality. I take inspiration in quite abstract things and processes.”
What is most important for you?
“Human relationships. I love collaborating with people who do these specific things. They are all such great people. I get a lot of energy from those relationships. For me, that’s the most important thing. That counts for collaborators who make the product and the people who work with me in my brand.”
What triggers your imagination?
“Just life itself. Every day, I see so many little [details]. I tend to scan my environment, look at people and find inspiration in nature. For example, I cook and I always look at the vegetables — they have such beautiful colors. Right now, the leaves are changing and I pick leaves from trees. My process is a sort of composition of random things that I put together and reassemble them. And then they transform. What always catches my attention is the color of the sky. I have these huge windows in my studio, and I look at the sky every day — and it’s different every day. That’s always inspiring.”
Do you forbid yourself anything when you design a shoe?
“To me, it’s about [having] no limit. The only limit is copying. That’s why I don’t like vintage inspiration in shoes: I’m not comfortable copying something someone else made. I can admire it, but I want to create my own inspiration.”
Is there such a thing as “an ugly shoe”?
“No. To me, it’s not ugliness, it’s unfamiliarity, not knowing what word to use to describe this. Creating ‘the new’ requires getting used to novel things. Even I sometimes [create] things that I find weird at first and need to get used to. In time, you warm up to them. Those are the interesting things, the ones that evolve. ‘Ugly’ today also means unusual. We don’t always want to be dressed in a ‘correct’ way. We look for that element that is off. That can be the shoe. It can turn an outfit that has a certain style into something else — and that’s the interesting part.”
You’ve spoken in the past about developing footbeds engineered with carbon components. What is your research and development process?
“A shoe has so many components and I love working on them all. I know all the suppliers in Italy for every single component, each specialized in a specific one. I’ve always been fascinated by that, and not just in shoes. Even the smallest detail can be very interesting. Sometimes it’s very subtle, an intervention in a component that is industrialized and can’t be changed, [where] I then try to implement another material to make it lighter, or create unusual combinations. Take the stiletto with the ergonomic footbed: You don’t really see it, but the shape supports the arch and gives the shoe a certain shape visually. It takes a lot of time, but for my brand, I want to develop things I find interesting, give them the time they need. Once they’re ready, I integrate them and they become classics.”
Tell us about the side-pointed CD toe shape that was shown on Jonathan Anderson’s womenswear debut at Dior.
“I’m always looking for very special toe shapes. One of my favorite things in the shoe-making process is going to the last maker to make the wood last with them. For me, that is the groundwork of every shoe and is like a sculpture. You have a piece of wood and you shape the volume you have in mind. In 3D, suddenly what looked strange as a drawing works. Shoemaking has a lot in common with making a sculpture — it’s like a functional sculpture. My mind is sometimes like a visual AI program. After I think and look at things a lot, somehow the idea creates itself. When it’s ready, it just pings, and then it comes out. And then I just need to execute it.”
What’s in store for Christen after opening your first flagship?
“I want to do everything in my power to stabilize sales, reach a bigger customer base, sell more shoes direct-to-customer. I don’t have that reach yet. Hopefully, the [retailers] will help, because they educate the people who buy the shoes. I also need to see how my product is received. Maybe it’s not commercial enough. I’m in an experimenting phase. I hope that in the next two years I can build something stable. I’m looking forward to sales feedback from wholesale [accounts]. That’s going to show the reality [of] what people like, what sells, what doesn’t. That can be harsh. But I look forward to it.”
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
“I would like one store in every big city; a solid customer base, with returning customers who appreciate the comfort and feel of the shoes; a stable, functional business so I can do what I love.”
For 39 years, the annual FN Achievement Awards — often called the “Shoe Oscars” — have celebrated the style stars, best brand stories, ardent philanthropists, emerging talents and industry veterans. The 2025 event is supported by Caleres, Listrak, Nordstrom, Skechers, Vibram and Wolverine Worldwide.