Why the name O'Couture?

I am always curious about the stories behind a brand name. It always amazes me how people can be this creative when it comes to brand names.

For instance, T.L. Williams created the Maybelline Company, which was named after his sister Maybel, whose dark lashes inspired him to come up with the idea of producing and selling an easy-to-use product to darken eyelashes.

Rene Lacoste, a famous tennis player had a winning bet with his team captain over an alligator skin suitcase and after winning the bet, he started wearing an embroidered crocodile on his tennis blazer. He later founded a company to manufacture the shirt, and the rest, as they say, is history.

When I first decided to launch my shoe line, my first big challenge was the "brand name". Finding a brand name was the most fun and the most excruciating phase of launching O'Couture shoe line. At the time I had the chance to brainstorm with Julia Veli Kreibich, the founder of Shoebizness.com. I got the most valuable advice from her regarding the brand name. "Your brand name should tell your story", she said.

Then, my brain started working overtime. How do you find a brand name that tells its history, its story, founder's lifestyle, its lifestyle promise, and its quality? Then at a moment of epiphany came O'Couture. In a nutshell, O is for Orange County and Couture for its uniquely styled high fashion connotation. O'Couture shoes are very "couture" in the sense that they provide interchangeability of ornaments therefore letting the owner almost custom make the shoes to their unique personal liking. It is really "high fashion" in OC style!

So what is the story behind the brand name? Well, as you all know by now that Zehra and I both have Turkish backgrounds and we both live in Orange County. Recently, our paths crossed in Orange County. We are both in love with this place and the lifestyle it offers. Zehra and I are extremely grateful to Orange County for providing us with the most nurturing friendship that paved the way for O'Couture. Our style and fashion sense has been predominantly influenced by Orange County and Southern California lifestyle. We created the O'Couture shoes with the Californian girl in mind: Gorgeous, versatile, fun-loving, in love with the nature and always in her unique style.