NES SHOES

NES was found in 2004 by Andrea Szilagyi as a very dear personal project, after she finished her studies at the Studio Bercot at Mme Marie Rucki in Paris, and while she's been still working for other brands as a free-lance designer.

NES makes simple and sophisticated hand-made shoes for self-conscious women who choose accessories that boost their beauty and match their personality. NES shoes give to the women wearing them a homelike comfort when walking and working. They are of a different kind of luxurious remedy for the feet and the heart in the urban jungle, being made from eco-friendly materials in an ethical way, in a small factory in Hungary where Andrea knows now all 28 employees personally.

NES has been always producing in small, limited series, but in spring 2008 Andrea felt she had to change and slow down. She needed to be more attentive to consumption and what she really cares for. Thus she found the most respectful small atelier and started her series of collections called Consciousness. These collections were reactive to the times we live in. NES gave a second life to some beautiful items that were no longer needed in their original form, meaning that Andrea and her crew have been transforming carefully selected vintage leather jackets and trousers into unique shoes and bags. The items of the series were not perfectly identical any more, but they had the same appearance.

Then in summer 2010 NES completely stopped the series production and until April 2015 Andrea only took bespoke orders to make shoes and bags that fit the exact needs of her clients and add no more to the overproduction. Through her past collections she has been already looking to be in tune with sustainable ideas and in the beginning of 2015 she found new recyclable and biodegradable materials and a sustainability oriented factory (which is already part-powered by solar panels, heated by burning cherry pits and convicts take part in the sewing of uppers), which inspired her to restart the series production and relaunch her label NES.

Every three months Andrea designs a new capsule collection for NES which is exactly about where she is in that present moment. These collections are immediately for sale, they appear in the brands online shop shortly after the collection launch events.

NES generally uses raw gum and eco-friendly leather with vegetal tanning for the soles, eco-friendly leather with vegetal tanning and handmade vegetal painting, recycled leather and fur (which results a certain randomness of the colors and textures specific to this production process, depending on the materials that Andrea had stumbled upon) for the uppers. This summer NES also added cnc-cut wooden or plastic heels, soles made out of recycled plastic and recycled textile uppers as well to make fully “vegan” sandals. The harmonious color combinations of each piece are preserved in the limited series production, but minor imperfections are intentional and add style.