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The 30-year-old studied fashion in Damascus but
abandoned hopes of a career in his homeland and fled the war to
settle in Lille, near the Belgian border.
His simple but chic leather sneakers with a strip of stretchy
fabric rather than laces sell for an average price of 330 euros
($390).
Actress Whoopi Goldberg placed an order after spotting a
prototype pair on a friend’s feet at a fashion show in the
United States and asked who the designer was, Essa told Reuters
from a boutique that stocks 28 style of his shoes.
His first shop opens in the next two weeks. The shoes are
already on sale in Beverly Hills, Paris and Ajaccio, Corsica.
Taught to sew by his grandmother, Essa had to persuade his
parents that fashion was not just something for girls.
"The rest of my family was against it because it wasn't a man's
job, it was a woman's job. So it was our little secret between
my grandmother and me, doing it behind my family's back," he
said.
It was a tough decision to leave Damascus, which, unlike his
home town of Homs, had escaped the worst of the fighting,
especially as Essa had already set up a workshop and shop in the
capital.
"We saw that the war had started to reach Damascus. There were
attacks almost every day and I saw my friends and many families
starting to leave one after the other - of course, the lucky
ones, those who could afford to go." He has not seen his family
since he fled.
Each pair of Daniel Essa shoes is etched with a word under the
tongue: “Freedom”, “Kisses”, or “Peace”.
“Everybody talks about world peace, but I really hope that one
day we will have peace in our world," Essa said.
(Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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