High fashion shoe designer Ruthie Davis ’84 was on campus last month to participate in the Inaugural Symposium “The Power of the Liberal Arts,” during which she spoke of entrepreneurship and the path that took her from producing watercolor paintings of L.L. Bean boots and boat shoes in an art class at Bowdoin to the high end of the luxury shoe world.

“It comes back to Bowdoin,” she told the WCSH newsmagazine 207. “They taught us to think big. They taught us to analyze, to dream; create something new.” 

Davis, who has outfitted the likes of Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Zendaya, is quick to point out that designing is only part of the work she does. “I love the marketing, the branding, the sales, the merchandising,” she says. “I like entrepreneurship.” Watch the 207 segment.