Skovgaard

At the age of 20, after attending several pattern-making courses in her native Copenhagen and in London, in addition to a semester at the prestigious French fashion school Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, Ms. Skovgaard came across an advertisement in a local Danish paper seeking a designer for work in Dubai.

There's No Business Like Shoe Business Natalia Rachlin 2011

Ms. Skovgaard also made strategic decisions, like moving her production from Italy to China in late 2007 to curb costs, once she had found a manufacturer whose handicraft she deemed comparable.

There's No Business Like Shoe Business Natalia Rachlin 2011

This fall, Ms. Skovgaard hired her first real employee—a factory manager in China, to oversee the manufacturing process up close.

There's No Business Like Shoe Business Natalia Rachlin 2011

I started on a £35,000 business loan from a Danish bank—no investors, no cash sponsorships, none of that, says Ms. Skovgaard, who notes that young designers shouldn't be discouraged by a lack of funding, but rather see it as an opportunity to be ambitious.

There's No Business Like Shoe Business Natalia Rachlin 2011

Though her collections tend to include a few pairs of flats and some more mid-range platforms, the question of whether Ms. Skovgaard herself ever wears anything less dramatic than her classic, five-inch platform wedges which elevate her to Amazonian heights, at nearly two meters brings on a momentary diatribe against the kitten heel: It just looks bloody wrong, in my opinion.

There's No Business Like Shoe Business Natalia Rachlin 2011

I know that's when I developed my distaste for shiny things, says Ms. Skovgaard.

There's No Business Like Shoe Business Natalia Rachlin 2011

And, of course, it's still developing, but I know what I like now," says Ms. Skovgaard, as she pulls up her sleeve, revealing a large, tribal-style tortoise tattoo on her right forearm, which serves as "a little reminder that it might be slow-going, but you get there.

There's No Business Like Shoe Business Natalia Rachlin 2011

Martin Beck, Dubai 2011 Designer Camilla Skovgaard "I have this aversion toward anything too feminine or too pretty in a traditional sense," says Ms. Skovgaard, as she settles into a red velour couch in the tea parlor of a West London restaurant.

There's No Business Like Shoe Business Natalia Rachlin 2011

From there on out, Ms. Skovgaard, now 38, ran a one-woman show: from designing, to sourcing materials, to creating spreadsheets, to photo-shopping images for her look books, to coalescing with manufacturers, it was all in a day's work.

There's No Business Like Shoe Business Natalia Rachlin 2011

And early next year, Ms. Skovgaard is planning to open her first store in London.

There's No Business Like Shoe Business Natalia Rachlin 2011