“The best shoe is the one you wear until you wear it out.” That line summarizes the guiding ethos of Chie Mihara, a Brazilian designer with Japanese roots, whose women’s footwear label has operated under her name from Elda, Alicante, for more than twenty years. Mihara has always balanced beauty with comfort, weaving artistic insight into wearable practicality. Her early love of creativity grew through manga, evolved into sculpture, and eventually led into studies of anatomy and orthopedics. This blend produced shoes and sandals that fit as precisely as a glove, helping her build a premium brand that now sells worldwide and recently expanded into women’s apparel following the same design principles.
Mihara was born in 1968 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, a city reached by her parents after years of immigrant labor in the fields and in food stalls. Her path diverged from theirs and began with a spark from manga, where she enjoyed drawing faces with large, bright eyes. She quickly realized that creativity and design were her calling.
When she told her parents about her plan, they suggested she study in Japan to absorb the culture and language that anchored her family roots, along with the chance to attend respected schools. She followed that path, moving to Japan at eighteen to study fashion at the Fukuoka Design School, and later relocating to Tokyo. There she joined the atelier of renowned avant-garde designer Junko Koshino as an assistant and pattern designer, gaining valuable experience in high level fashion production.
“Tortured and Forgotten”
Mihara reached a turning point when fashion began to feel like a story of passion and disappointment. She decided to move to New York to explore the possibility of sculpture in the form of footwear. Although the New York moment was brief, it proved essential for stepping into the shoe world. Shoes, she observed, are like small sculptures with their own architecture: firm heels, refined toes, and distinctive shapes. They fuse fashion with design in a way that is deeply tactile and expressive. Mihara then enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York to specialize in accessories and to study orthopedics, where she learned to honor the condition of feet that carry many stories. This experience shaped her approach to comfort and fit, especially for those with demanding needs.
After two years in the shoe design department at Sam & Libby, Mihara began a collaboration with the French luxury brand Charles Jourdan, a venture anchored in Elda. In 1994 she arrived in that town, where her husband Francisco Sanchis—connected to the industry—joined her in building the business. He serves as chief executive while she leads as designer, channeling their shared vision into the brand’s growth and direction.
The Mihara label has flourished into a substantial operation that ships thousands of pairs annually. It reports strong European sales, with a significant portion of production exported to markets across the EU, the United States, Asia, and beyond. The brand’s footprint spans major department stores and luxury boutiques, reflecting its standing in the premium footwear landscape. All production remains anchored in the region, reinforcing Elda’s identity as a premier shoe cluster and supporting local jobs—the brand directly employs a core team, while a broader network across the region extends the workforce.
Central to Mihara’s approach is a steadfast commitment to comfort. It remains a recurring theme in her public statements, a philosophy she has carried into her most recent venture into apparel. The new clothing line debuted in the summer, showcasing a vivid color palette with minimalist lines, designed for daily wear by mature women who value both function and style. Mihara has framed this collection as a natural extension of her design language: practical, expressive, and attuned to real-world needs. The project grew from a simple truth she shares—finding everyday clothes that truly fit how people live can be a challenge, and this line aims to meet that need with thoughtful construction and careful tailoring.