LONDONDERRY, NH: New Hampshire is rich in gems, not the geological kind but the hidden figures who reside here and are among those who are accomplished in one way or another. Maggi Rotteveel is one of those gems. Born in Puerto Rico, her father’s surname was Casablanca. Maggi explains there are just two families in the world with the name Casablanca. It’s a mysterious name, like the 1943 film starring Humphrey “Here’s looking at you kid” Bogart.
Maggi, known as Blanca to close friends, is a petite, kind person who survived for decades in the tough fashion industry. The multi-lingual dynamo has worked for Hush Puppies and Cole Haan and was a corporate vice president at Macy’s.
On March 9, 2000, The Hartford Courant wrote about her. “She created the first footwear brand exclusively for sale on the internet.” She was the designer for Cloudwalkers.com.
“The shoes were called Cloudwalkers.com – literally. Raphael Benaroya was an Israeli man who had been with the Israeli security service. He was on the board of several government security agencies. Currently, he is the Managing Director of Biltmore Capital Management, LLC. He thought the internet was going to happen. No one had sold things like fragrances. Nobody believed you could sell footwear. The business was for plus-size women. The shoe started at size eight to fourteen. He figured that’s an underserved community. They had a lot of stores in the Northeast but not in total in the country. He was very smart. There were glitches at the beginning of the internet, and stuff would happen. He also came up with the idea of let’s do a catalog as well until things get rolling. Many people didn’t have a computer then or weren’t comfortable ordering online.”
Maggi Rotteveel knows shoes, comfortable shoes. So much so she holds a patent with Malcolm Blissett. “I worked with a man by the name of Malcolm Blissett. He was working on a technology for people who stand for a long time. All the technology was on the outsole of the shoe. I said, but you’re not doing anything for the actual foot to be comfortable and not to be hot. I got a co-patent with him. It’s the same thing when men do intimate apparel. They don’t wear them. They don’t care if it’s stiff and it has wires. Now there are many women in the business. You have softer versions and fewer seams.”
I asked her how she anticipated what fashion would do. “I wanted to be a designer since I was a little girl, and I’m very colorful, as you can see. Growing up in the Caribbean, you are exposed to bright light and color. It depends on the target audience or the demographic. You cannot intuit where certain things are going. You start to see trends. If you go to Europe, that becomes even more obvious. Let’s say we’ve had hot pink for so many years. It’s time to move on. How is the economy? What are the people’s thoughts? What are the people’s emotions? If they’re good, typically, it goes into brighter colors, into shorter skirts. During the pandemic, people wore gray pajamas outdoors. It has to do with economics and the emotional feeling of the group. If you’re going after teens, they follow whatever trend they see on social media. That’s easy to see, and they start trends. The West Coast has started many trends, including the comfort trend, yoga, fitness, and wellness. Many trends start there because of their lifestyle. They’re by the beach. You don’t need coats or cold-weather items. There seems to be a cycle that you feel.”
I asked Maggi how she got started. “I went to the fashion industries in New York. I started as a showroom model for shoes because I had a size six foot. And I was an assistant to a designer. Then I went to school at Parsons. The garment district was a bit tougher in terms, I don’t mean tough work, I mean like the guys weren’t that nice. So I stayed in the shoe industry because even if there were competitors in the industry, it was like a close community.”
“I was also the showroom receptionist. It was great in Manhattan. I was young. And then, I realized that this is what I want to do in the footwear industry. I went from one job to the other, and you train, and you go to the factories and travel around the world. There was a saying, join the shoe industry and see the world.”
On November 8, 1993, the Tampa Bay Times wrote about Maggi, who was a new designer for Hush Puppies. At that point in time, Hush Puppies was selling 35,000 pairs every day in 150 stores in the US and 400 stores in 61 foreign countries. Maggi was right in the middle of it. She was the designer.
“I also was the on-air spokesperson for HSN at that time. They had a tannery that had water-proof suede, so the suede shoes were not only casual, but they were water-resistant. We used to go on television and pour tomato juice on the suede. We were selling out of shoes on the HSN segments. We had very good communication with our consumer base. The shoes were made in China and some in Brazil.”
When her mother came down with Alzheimer’s, she became her caretaker. Her mother lived until she was ninety. Now Maggi lives in Londonderry with her husband, Evert, who shares their work in shoes and works for the global company Ecco USA, Inc.
“Now I paint and garden. We have an international cooking club in our neighborhood. I’m taking an essential oils course. I’m playing with making jewelry. We both love to cook. We did a pasta cooking course. We entertain.”
Finally, I asked her how women can wear six-inch heels. “I did it. I was wearing heels by the time I was eleven. I used to beg for heels. If you have healthy feet and your posture is good, you can run in heels. As we get older, wedges are an alternative. Wedges are the most comfortable shoe in the world. Ballerina flats aren’t. Your instep hurts. If you’re a lady with large feet, you should never wear flats. If you have a little heel, it shortens [the foot], and it looks more elegant. Espadrilles are a classic. Platforms are another way to incorporate some sort of a heel.”
