About

The Return of the Heel

There was a time when wearing heels felt natural. They represented confidence, elegance, and self-expression. Today, many women still love the way heels look—but too often avoid wearing them because they no longer trust how they feel.

ATINA ÑYC exists to change that.

Our mission is simple: to create beautiful heels women genuinely want to wear again. Not by asking them to compromise, but by rethinking how luxury footwear is designed from the inside out.

This is the return of the heel.

ATINA ÑYC

Every ATINA shoe is designed in New York and crafted by skilled artisans in Spain. Every decision is deeply considered. Every detail serves a purpose.

Because luxury should never ask women to sacrifice comfort for beauty.

It should make them fall in love with heels again.

Welcome to ATINA.

The return of the heel begins here.

Photo on the left:
Argentina Flores
Founder & Creative Director of ATINA ÑYC

A Curiosity That Became a Conviction

For most of my career, shoes were something I thought about the way women do—as a consumer navigating the same choices everyone else made. I loved them. I collected them. Like many women, I also knew what it meant to love a pair of heels, but not trust how they would feel.

That changed when I entered the footwear industry.

What began as curiosity quickly became an obsession. I wanted to understand why some shoes felt effortless while others didn't. I spent years studying construction, materials, fit, and craftsmanship, discovering that comfort isn't accidental—it's engineered.

Those lessons became years of study in shoe construction, materials, and manufacturing. They ultimately became the philosophy we call Comfort Intelligence™.

Photo on the Right:
Argentina Flores Alicante, Spain 2026

Inspired by Heritage

Women Who Made Things

I grew up surrounded by women who worked with their hands.

My mother operated a small neighborhood hair salon out of our walk-up apartment in the Bronx. She welcomed the women in our community, helping them leave feeling more like themselves. She is now in her 80s and still carries that same quiet devotion to her craft.

My grandmother and three aunts spent more than forty years sewing costumes by hand in New York City's Garment District. Their work appeared on Broadway stages, yet they never spoke about it as something extraordinary. It was simply their profession—showing up every day and doing beautiful work well.

My own journey began in New York's Garment District as an assistant pattern maker, where I first experienced the discipline behind exceptional craftsmanship. Every seam, every proportion, every millimeter mattered.

That appreciation for craftsmanship has never left me.

Photo on the right:
Brijida Reyes, Godmother & Aunt
Creative Customs NYC - 1983

Women who make things. Women
who show up with skill, for other women.

That’s where ATINA ÑYC begins.

Antonia Saint Dunbar

In 2017, I joined the founding team of Antonia Saint New York, where I spent nearly a decade building the brand alongside Antonia Saint Dunbar. Together, we refined products through years of iteration, shipped thousands of pairs, and learned firsthand what women truly wanted from their shoes.

Over those years, I immersed myself in footwear development—working alongside factories, studying construction, and learning every stage of the process.

The experience gave me something far more valuable than simply building a company. It gave me the knowledge to finally answer the question that had stayed with me for years.

Could heels be beautiful and genuinely comfortable at the same time?

ATINA is my answer.

Everything I learned—every prototype, every fitting, every lesson from the factory floor—led to this brand.

Antonia passed away in early 2026. She was a dear friend, a brilliant mind, and deeply committed to creating products that improved women's lives. Working alongside her reinforced something I carry with me every day: build with purpose, pursue excellence, and always put women first.

ATINA is the continuation of that belief.

Women crafting slow luxury

Made in Alicante, Spain—a region with a long history of shoemaking excellence, where generations of families have dedicated their lives to the craft.

Whenever I travel to Alicante, I spend my days moving between factories and component makers, studying constructions, reviewing leathers, refining proportions, and watching shoes come to life by hand.

One of the most meaningful parts of producing in Spain is working alongside a women-run factory passed down through generations of shoemakers—a place where craftsmanship, care, and knowledge are inherited, nurtured, and refined over time.

There is something deeply moving about watching women at their sewing machines assembling each pair with such precision and pride. In an industry increasingly driven by speed and disposability, these moments remind me what luxury should truly mean: thoughtful design, skilled hands, and craftsmanship rooted in dignity, patience, and respect.

Every pair of ATINA ÑYC reflects that commitment.

Designed to endure beyond seasons and trends.

Designed in New York.
Crafted in Spain.

Made to help women fall in love with heels again.