You can sparkle on the beach this summer with handmade sandals by Ankalia bejewelled with Swarovski crystals

FORGET about the humble thong. Well-heeled fashionistas will be wearing $275 handmade sandals adorned with Swarovski crystals for trips to the beach this summer.

Cheryl Botha is designing shoes in Mosman with her brand Ankalia.

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THESE sparkly sandals tell a story that stretches all the way from Mosman to Italy and back.

Former ski instructor Cheryl Botha decided to take a “creative detour” in her career three years ago and enrolled in a Milan university to study fashion.

And this led to the workshop of an artisan sandal designer who taught her the finer details of his craft.

“I got to the point where I thought I need to take a sabbatical and do a few adventurous things,” she said.

Cheryl Botha with some of her range of bespoke sandals.

“I enrolled in university in Milan full time and I studied fashion and luxury goods management.

“And then after that it was quite by fluke I got offered an internship with one of those really old sandal artisans in Italy.”

It was the first time he had opened his workshop in a small town outside Milan to a trainee.

Ms Botha learned how design and make sandals in the traditional way and she fell in love with the craft.

On her return to Australia she founded her own business called Ankalia creating sandals embedded with Swarovski crystals in Mosman.

Cheryl Botha is a former ski instructor who has turned her hand to fashion design.

It takes her several hours to make each pair of sandals and she has 25 different designs.

“They are not something mass produced in China,” she said.

“They are made with love. That makes them special.”

Her creations are available through ankalia.com and prices start at $165 for basic sandals, with the crystal creations selling for $275.