Barbara Bui Shoes Company History.

With a masters degree in English literature and her background in theater, Parisian designer Barbara Bui has an eclectic and intelligent approach to fashion. "I think we need fun in fashion so that we don't get so depressed," says Bui, whose hip designs are anything but somber. She's known for clean lines and an off-beat femininity that combines various cultural and ethnic influences. Although her mother is French and her father Vietnamese, Bui resists the clichŽs associated with her multicultural background. "It's more about spirit than it is about clichŽs," she explains.

Bui majored in English literature but gave up academia a little over a decade ago to open the boutique Kabuki with her husband, former actor William Halimi. The shop began with pieces by Bui and other designers and quickly grew into a popular and well-stocked fashion resource. By 1988 Bui, herself, was designing men's and women's collections. Bui's empire now includes six shops (four in Paris, one in New York and one in Milan), and two different clothing lines: one bearing her full name and the other, her initials. The Barbara Bui line consists of well-cut items in fine materials. Her line, "BB initials", ("initials" was added to avoid any mix-up with Brigitte Bardot) came out in spring 1998 and is a more relaxed line. For fall 2000, she unveiled the Barbara Bui shoe collection, with range of designs than her previous footwear.

Today Barbara Bui presents four collections each season: Main Line, Initials, Men, Shoes. She has her own stores in Paris, New York and Milan; including a cafŽ in Paris which opened in 1999.