Do you know what Maria Bakalova, Enrique Iglesias, Zucchero, Jess Hong, Morgan Freeman, Lindsey Stirling, and Peter Dinklage all have in common?
The shoes of the Bulgarian brand INGILIZ, manufactured in the town of Peshtera. They are a favorite accessory of dozens of world-famous actresses, models, musicians, and influencers - featured on the covers of lifestyle magazines, in Hollywood productions, on the red carpet, and fashion runways across the globe.
Today we follow in the footsteps of this innovative company, which has grown its business with the support of the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB).
“Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world”, Marilyn Monroe once said. The story of INGILIZ proves her right. It began in 1976, when young Fatima joined a former socialist shoe factory. She quickly passed on her passion for fashion to her son Gyursel, who graduated in Fashion Footwear Design and began working at the same factory in 1983. There he took on roles as technologist and designer, honing his skills until his entrepreneurial spirit and eye for detail led to the creation of the family company INGILIZ, named after their surname Ingilizov.
It is the embodiment of the term “family business,” uniting several generations with one goal: creating the perfect shoe. “I work alongside my father, my brother, my aunt, my mother - we’re all here. That’s our greatest pride,” says Gyursel’s son, Remzi.
The beginnings were modest - just 15 square meters and two sewing machines. The company’s first products were initially targeted only at the local market, distributed in Bulgaria’s major cities. In 2000, just four years later, the company purchased its first factory. INGILIZ took a bold leap, becoming the first in Bulgaria to produce its own shoe molds. Today, it has fully closed the production cycle and is a leader in the Balkans in producing molds, uppers, soles, and insoles.
As the company grew, Remzi Ingilizov played an increasingly important role in management, with his vision proving crucial. Under his influence, in 2013 INGILIZ moved into the luxury segment, focusing on premium quality and shifting primarily to online sales.
“When we repositioned the brand, we decided to end our distributor network because we wanted to take the product to another level and saw the future in online commerce,” recalls Remzi. This decision transformed all company processes, introducing a completely new model for profiling and targeting customers.
The approach proved successful. Ten years later, 50% of the factory’s production is sold in the U.S. in the premium footwear segment, 30% goes to China, and just 7% remains in Bulgaria. To cover such a wide global market, the company works with 11 strategic partners. Perhaps the best-known brand currently producing in partnership with INGILIZ is By Far - worn by Gigi Hadid, Hailey Bieber, and Dakota Johnson. Another client is Demobaza, the Bulgarian design duo behind costumes for Dune and blockbusters like The Hunger Games, Men in Black: International, and Black Panther.
Besides shoes, the company supplies molds to factories in Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, INGILIZ worked with 488 firms; today that number is around 50, as others are still recovering.
To make a shoe, they explain, you need a mold, several prototypes, a final sample, and only then comes the finished product. But every rule has its exceptions. In 2016, Gianfranco Pierantoni, a film producer with a costume studio, arrived at the factory with an urgent problem: he needed 700 pairs of shoes for a production in just two weeks. “At first it sounded funny - asking for something so specific practically overnight. He left us a sketch, a deposit, and walked out,” recalls Remzi. Skipping production stages was a real challenge, but the test proved successful. From then on, INGILIZ stepped onto the big screen, producing footwear for blockbuster productions like Game of Thrones and Star Wars.
“Since 2020, we decided that every product we make for films or celebrities, we’ll produce two pairs and keep one. When one day we have the rights, we’ll showcase them. For now, we’re just filling a warehouse with shoes,” says Remzi with a smile.
For the Peshtera-based factory, this journey has been full of surprises - like producing two different shoes on short notice for Morgan Freeman due to his unique sizing, a men’s size 35 for Peter Dinklage, or women’s high heels in size 45 for Scandinavian participants in Drag Shows.
Beyond the glamour, INGILIZ is deeply committed to environmental responsibility. The company is fully energy-independent, working on initiatives to reduce CO₂ emissions. Traditional lighting has been entirely replaced with LED fixtures across all production, administrative, and retail facilities. The company is transitioning to 100% renewable green energy, with six rooftop photovoltaic plants producing about 4.5 million kWh annually - enough to cover its entire consumption while saving 486 tons of CO₂. This equals the yearly electricity use of 580 households or the emissions of 270 cars.
Sustainability goes further: a high-efficiency system recycles and minimizes leather waste during cutting. “It’s the only system of its kind in Bulgaria and one of only four in Europe,” explains Remzi.
INGILIZ also develops water-based adhesives to replace acetone-based ones, uses zippers made from recycled bottles, and recycles both shoe components and packaging. The innovative company finances its growth with the support of the Bulgarian Development Bank, and its future plans include entering new markets and further enhancing its technologies.
