Although Ballerinas have now become the hottest accessory for women's feet since platforms during the seventies, there is no denying who the true trend creator was. Jane Winkworth, designer and owner of French Sole and the American side of the business, London sole, no less. Without her, the trend may never have taken shape as it has today and the many "copycats" as she likes to refer to them, would have found another trend to dig their evil claws into.

Winkworth was but a young child, a girly passionate for ballet and tap, with an eye for fashion when she fell in love with the simple ballet shoe. At the tender age of three, she was taking her ballet shoes after dance class up to her bedroom in beautiful Chelsea and decorating them with her own child like designs of glitter or flowers. Thus the desire grew, a tiny Winkworth was putting together her ideas for one of the most iconic brands of the last few centuries even before she began school. " I loved clothes as a child and was very confident and courageous" she explains, a twinkle of nostalgia in her eyes

"I loved ribbons in my hair, sparkle and flowers, anything girly. Ballet shoes were the strongest of my passions, I would simply never take them off, much to the dismay of my mother."

Of course, this dismay was the start of something beautiful, as Winkworth began to wear ballet shoes for the rest of her, summoning a family friend, whose father made shoes to have her ballet shoes made with soles, "They weren't something you could just pick up back in the 1950s and 60s, but they were the only shoes I felt truly beautiful in"

After settling down to family life following her happy marriage and birth to three children in her early twenties, she practised her artistic flair in the shape of restoring and panting fine art and porcelain at London's Victoria and Albert museum during the 1960s and 70s. After several years, when her children had flown the nest, Winkworth felt that there was a gap in the market for the simple ballet flats she was so fond of wearing herself. After sourcing the perfect product from Spain and France, her business began to thrive, not least of all when she took part in the Duke of York charity event in 1989. She took a small table at the event with an array of her favourite flatties to sell of for charity:

"I was convinced no one would be interested, but to my absolute delight we had completely sold out by 11 o clock that morning!" she explains " It simply reinforced the fact in my mind that Britain was in desperate need of a product like this one."

A mail order service followed this pinnacle moment, as orders increased and word spread fast of the Chelsea girl set to change the pace of footwear. A few months later, the Princess of Wales showed interest in the brand:

"I showed some styles to Princess Diana's stylist, who was convinced she would love them. After a few days, I got a call back, ordering every single style in the collection. I couldn't believe it!"

As the business grew, Winkworth found the ideal spot to open her very own store dedicated to ballet pumps, in Munster Road, Fulham. Without any advertising or promotion, on opening, there were queues out of the door and all the way down the road to get in. In just one day, the store sold no less than 130 pairs, and the rest, as they say, is history.

In the last five to ten years Jane Winkworth has made the business entirely her own, designing every shoe down the last detail and adding that extra special something to create a brand which has the quality of pure luxury. An exclusivity agreement from all of the best factories in France and employment of the top pattern cutters and last makers in the world followed, as did plans for an image conscious branding strategy, in keeping with the brands heritage and Jane Winkworths own identity. The shoes are also well priced, at around £65.00 retail per pair.

"To this day we choose the most luxurious, unusual materials to make our product." explains Winkworth " I have found Fish Skins in Vietnam that have the most amazing appearance to the human eye, the finest Italian leathers and the most innovative technology within the soles and insoles for comfort value."

That would explain why, in the last fifteen years, French Sole have never sold less than twenty pairs in one day. And it is not just the UK residents who had a taste for Winkworths designs, some of her biggest markets are now overseas, including an extremely successful branch of the brand in the USA, London Sole. Working alongside Ben Scott and niece of Jimmy Choo, Lucy Choi, the brand set up in Santa Monica to become the "must have" shoe for A List Hollywood celebrities.

The brand now has five hundred stockists world wide including concessions in all of the major department stores, as well as their flagshop stores in Ellis Street London and Weybridge, Surrey. On top of this London Sole has stores in Santa Monica, San Fransico and Miami. Winkworth is also controversially happy to stock any store that wishes to buy into the brand:

"My opinion is, if they love my shoes, I love them!" she laughs "Nothing more, nothing less and this has never got me into any bother in the past!"

The latest edition to the French Sole family is an exciting new concept for women with larger feet, an area of the market which often suffers at the hands of ignorant designers and manufacturers who do not understand the importance of properly extending the last of shoes:

"Most designers why create shoes for larger feet get it all wrong." she explains " What people do not understand is that although the size of women's feet vary, in general the toe length does not vary. We have been researching this for three whole years and have come up with perfect shoe, which does not draw attention to fact that some women have larger feet than others." Investing in brand new machinery for the job to specially create such lasts has been a pricey one, but one which WInkworth is convinced will be worth it:

"We have only just launched and already we have sold out of 99% of Pirouette." says Winkworth "This is one of the most exciting launches from the brand to date."

With plans for two new store openings in the UK and a new wedding collection unveiled next summer, Jane Winkworth and French Sole have plenty more years of life in them to look forward to, meanwhile, the ballerina pump trend flourishes, and its all down to one special lady!

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