Woman launches sustainable footwear line, sourced and made in Mexico

What connects you to your roots, to where your ancestors came from? In the case of Chicago-born and raised designer Vanessa Arroyo, it's her newly launched line of shoes and boots. Vanessa Arroyo's love for fashion goes way back. When it came to clothes, my parents loved to dress me. It was just the vibe of the 90s. They kept me fly. Her dad, whose mother and grandmother were seamstresses in Mexico, taught Vanessa how to sew when she couldn't find clothes to fit her petite figure. He taught me to sew when I was a teenager because I wanted to make my own outfits. I loved fashion because it came with the music, it came with the culture, it came with the things that we did. Vanessa knew fashion was her passion, so that's what she studied at Columbia College in Chicago. I didn't really waste any time. So during college, I had design jobs, I had design internships, had a job lined up right after I graduated. And when I, I was in Chicago for almost a year after I graduated, but I knew that there was more out there for me. And she went to find more in New York City with a one-way ticket and no job. I was worried about finding work, but within the week, I had an offer and I wasn't gonna say no. So when I started working in footwear, I never looked back. Vanessa was designing shoes for top brand Rag & Bone, specifically for New York's Fashion Week. I was fascinated with the glitz and the glamor of New York. I was basically working and living my dream job. But after six years on the job, once again, she wanted more. Vanessa knew how to design shoes, but now she wanted to learn how to make them. One of her mentors suggested she learned from the master zapateros, shoemakers in Leon, Guanajuato. Little did Vanessa know how much this move back to her family's motherland would change her life. It was really this unknown passion for footwear that I had, but also I was awakening to like a personal transformation. I started understanding and becoming interested in learning more about my family history and why they left Mexico in the first place. Vanessa worked and studied while in Leon and absorbed all the knowledge she needed to eventually create her own line of footwear, from how to make the shoes to managing the business. So pick your straightest lines. When the pandemic hit, she came back home and started teaching at the Chicago School of Shoemaking and Leather Arts, while getting ready to launch her brand, Ceres. Ceres is the Spanish word for beings. And I wanted to make this about all the participants that make our footwear possible, not just me. The shoemakers that make Ceres shoes and the artisans, they're just as important as I am. With a lot of help from her friends, Vanessa created the logo, the advertising and officially launched Ceres in May of 2023. She describes her line as sustainable and fashion forward. We like to keep it as natural as possible. We removed all of the chemicals from all of the forever chemicals from our processes. And we used a mixed tanning method that has a vegetable base. And to honor her ancestors and the people who taught her how to make shoes, her line is completely sourced and made in Mexico. There is a special pair of boots in her original collection, the Estere, named after her aunt, who she never met. My grandparents were here in Chicago when they got a call that their youngest daughter was sick and they didn't know what was happening. She was staying with relatives. Unfortunately, she passed away. They decided to go back to Mexico. They stayed there some time and they decided to come back because they wanted to work. Only they brought all of their children, including my dad. I love the story. I never get tired of hearing it, their experience crossing the border. Vanessa can't wait to see where her shoes take her. They have been very popular online and at different pop-ups around the city, but you can tell that she is proudest of having created a product that represents who she is and her Mexican roots. Ceres is now part of Chicago Fair Trade because Vanessa has made sure to pay her employees in Mexico fair wages, give them paid holidays, and provide clean working conditions. Another way the designer makes sure her brand is as much about the people as about the shoes. Ana Belaval, WGN News.