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Interview with founder David Bell
Balearic footwear producer Mascaró founded PrettyBallerinas.com in 2005, an online shop selling ballet pumps. The project was a tribute to a family legacy that dated back to 1918, when it started out as a small ballet-shoe workshop.
The brand launches 200 new designs each season. Always true to its romantically naïve style, the shoes come in a wide variety of shapes, designs, colours and materials, from leather and satin to tweed and patent leather). To keep them exclusive, they are made according to traditional methods and only a limited number of each design goes on sale.
Celebrities like Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss and Kylie Minogue have helped make them popular and the brand has gradually expanded its catalogue to include flat sandals and party designs.
In February 2007, Pretty Ballerinas opened its first boutique on Brook Street, in the heart of London’s Mayfair. To this were added two more in London. In August 2008, it set up shop in Madrid, with two standalones in the chic Salamanca district.
In 2009, after opening its first shop outside Europe in Montreal (Canada), it launched a children’s ballet pump collection. More shops are about to open in New York, Tokyo, Milan and Barcelona. The brand is also available from multibrand retailers in Germany, Italy, France, USA, Denmark and Japan.
Pretty Ballerinas exports 70% of its output.
