Ricardo Pina

I’m Ricardo Pina, a Fashion Footwear Designer, currently developing my career as Freelance and Consultant, and constantly looking for new projects, new partners, new adventures! During the last 16 years I had the chance to work for many diverse brands, from Fast Fashion, to High Fashion, passing through Sports and Couture. My Career started at Porto, Portugal, where I originally come from, in 2007, when I’ve got graduated in Fashion Design. Later in 2008 I moved to Madrid, in Spain, where I completed my studies with a Master in the same field. It was also in Spain where I luckly ended up working for Zara, Inditex, the biggest worldwidef fast fashion retailer. During the 4 years in there I’ve got a vast knowledge in the women’s footwear and accessories industry and developed a strong sense for commerciality. In 2014, I moved to Nuremberg, in Germany, and for 4 years I was a Senior Footwear Designer for the 2 biggest sports companies in Europe, Puma and Adidas. On both of them I had the great challenge of creating product for the top sports fashion collaborations of that moment, such as Fenty by Rihanna, McQ from Alexander McQueen, Y-3, Raf Simons, Rick Owens, Alexander Wang, Yohji Yamamoto, and so many other fashion and streetwear brands. That period gave me a deep understanding about the sports industry, but also about brand’s archive DNA, sneakers and street culture, and footwear innovation. I arrived in Paris, France, where I’m based currently, in 2018, to have the enormous pleasure to create products for one of the most prestigious fashion houses, Givenchy, across two very different periods of the brand, first with Clare Waight Keller, and after with Matthew M Williams, as creative directors. About 2 years after I moved within the LVMH group to another of their brands, Kenzo, by the creative direction of Nigo, where I enlarged my landscape of Footwear Designer to Head of the Footwear Design department. On both brands I’ve certainly got to experience the high fashion industry, but mostly I’ve refined my aesthetic taste and my fashion references, and I elevated my own “savoir-faire” in leather shoes and high heels. Now, in 2023, I’m switching my career to freelancing and consulting, my aim is to be free of exclusivity and be available to work and collaborate with many different partners, and in the most diverse projects, as possible. Open to freelance design projects with footwear and fashion brands, I’m also looking to extend my experience and my skills into other fields, and discover new ways to collaborate with other Designers, Stylists, Artists, CreatErs, Makers, etc...