About the Designer

Hi I’m Claudia Lisotta!

I was born and raised in Brazil and as a little girl I had a passion for shoes. When I look back, I realize it was because my father had always been obsessed with men’s footwear. He was a representative for some factories and would always bring home samples. My father always saw shoes as a form of art. In an amazing turn of events, years later, I would pick up on passion in the form of Claudia Lisotta Shoes.

At the age of 19 years old I was persuaded by my mom to go to the United States for a better future. I decided to take on the adventure and moved to Florida following in my sister and brother-in-law's footsteps not knowing when I would see my family again. This was a heartbreaking situation as my mom had 2/3 siblings move to the U.S.

Arriving in Florida the plan was to work with my sister and brother-in-law in their new endeavors. They were selling leather goods in different kiosks in those mall carts you see lined up in the middle of the walkways. However, the challenge was I didn’t speak English - minor problem! To help accelerate the process they made me a little translation booklet in order for me to work. One of the few words I could speak was “Pizza.” So, guess what was on the menu for quite some time during lunch–Sbarro Pizza!

The days were long—11-hour shifts, 6 days a week for a few years in a row. I was dropped off every morning and picked up every night because I didn’t have a car. It wasn’t until later that my brother-in-law taught me how to drive. I was finally able to save up some money and at the age of 21 to get my very first car. Despite the lack of language and how hard it was to be away from my family, I was determined to make the best of it. It was certainly the hardest thing I’ve ever done! I’m glad I was young and resilient.

Moving forward about ten years I met the most amazing man—my now husband. We got married shortly after, had two amazing boys, Nathaniel and Nicholas, and moved to Texas. Through it all the fondness for fashion and fascination for shoes has always been there. However, the desire to do something about it kept getting stronger.

A couple of years later and after so much research I was led once again to my origins. In the height of the COVID19 pandemic I decided to fly to Brazil to meet with the factory to start producing the shoes. Little did I know, this facility I had been talking to and set a meeting with happened to be where one of my inspirational designers produces some of her shoes! They specialize in quality handmade shoes allowing me to create some amazing designs with a purpose to empower and inspire women all over the world. They use high quality leather without compromising comfort.

We're just getting started and this has been a dream come true!