Editor’s Note: Social Stylists does not receive any compensation for comments regarding Kindred Sole – or any other topic we blog about. We put the Kindred Sole link on the right side of the page solely (pun totally intended) because we love the site and want to share it.
Normally I post about designers or trends. But there is an online shoe boutique that I want to share with everyone – I adore KindredSole.
It’s the most fun you can have shoe shopping. I could go on and on about the site’s inspired shoes and fun links, but instead let’s do an interview with Liz & Beth the duo behind the site & shoes.
Beth (left) and Lizzie (right) of KindredSole
We’ve been developing Kindred Sole for the past 3.5 years now and it’s already flown by. We started with the idea that we wanted to provide something different, something that wasn’t everywhere else! Kindred Sole is all about the customer (cliché, I know but true). So the logical place that we started from was the customer. We began with a detailed profile of our customer: what type of life she leads and consequently what type of shoes she wants to fit her lifestyle.
Two of my favorite links are Shoe are You & Shoe is She How do you come up with the ideas?
Shoe Are You?
These characters refer back to our customer profile research – every woman has an alter ego and what’s to say that every day we all feel the same? Some days we want a casual fashion vibe, other times we want to channel our inner ‘Style Siren’ with our Style Overtime section.
And for the quirky in us all there is ‘Shoe Is She?’ We’ve all walked past a woman and thought ‘Oh my gosh – what is she wearing on her feet’ and this was the vision behind ‘Shoe is She!?’ It’s great to be quirky and you can do that in a conservative way or really push the boundaries – and make a wild impression. A picture says a thousand words, but to us a pair of shoes say that and much more!
These sections are works in progress and we’re enjoying expanding them – it’s a nice change to have a visual of a style that’s approachable, not just an airbrushed fashion image!
Shoe is She
The Vintage Sole section of Kindred Sole is really exciting and we’re enjoying researching old trends and sourcing designer’s vintage styles. We find our vintage shoes in a various locations (a girl can’t give away all her best secrets!) but for instance Lizze and I are going to Paris next week and are hoping to not come home sans shoes!
One important lesson we have learnt when buying Vintage shoes – you cannot delay – if you see a pair don’t hesitate – it’s a true gem when you find a fab pair!
Vintage Bridal is coming soon – what will you be looking for in vintage bridal shoes?
Oh my gosh, we’re so excited about the Vintage Bridal collection! We worked on the traditional idea of ‘Something old, something borrowed and something blue’ and that’s where our inspiration came from! To start it will be a smaller collection but we’ve got some great things – we have a mixture of traditional styles that lots of brides opt for as well as some more unusual styles!
Sneak peak: We’ve got a fabulous vintage Salvatore Ferragamo pair that may just be my personal favourite!
Claudio Rocco Vintage
How did you come up with the idea to do a Designer’s Corner?
We both only graduated last July from university so it was important to us to be able to offer other newly graduated students employment opportunities. Both of us are highly creative and did a Fashion Retail Buying degree. And we’ve witnessed first hand what amazing design talent is out there with students. We wanted to be able to use Kindred Sole as a stage to launch their ideas in collaboration with us and to launch a Kindred Sole Brand label with these up and coming designers.
The response we have gotten from Designers Corner has been fantastic and surpassed our expectations. We’ve been contacted by designers world-wide – not just current students and graduates but also established designers. So watch this space!!
What is your favorite new trend for shoes / what do you see coming up that we all need?
With Spring/Summer just around the corner, we’re really hyped about several fantastic styles and silhouettes that any woman in the fashion-know needs to have in her wardrobe next season.
Our personal must haves are clogs (Chanel revived this style so successfully that they are going to be everywhere!) cuffed sandals and wedges. And that’s just to name a few!
So there you have it, some of the reasons I love Kindred Sole – www.kindredsole.com. There is also an International Shoe Size Conversion chart in the Help Hub. Liz and Beth have made it so easy, thanks gals!
