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She Married Into A Shoe Factory. Still Couldn't Find The Right Pair.
The founding story
Not a gap in the market.
A gap in her own wardrobe.
Sonam Joshan grew up in fashion. She ran her own clothing line, understood wardrobes intuitively, and knew better than most what women actually need to get dressed in the morning. Then she married into a family that had made shoes for three generations. And found herself standing next to a factory and still without the pair she was looking for.
How it happened
Fashion background
Sonam studied fashion and built her own clothing line. She learned how women actually dress — not how brands think they dress. The wardrobe, not the catwalk.
The unexpected access
Her husband's family has made shoes for three generations. Sonam suddenly had something almost no one has — a direct line to production, quality standards, and craft that most brands outsource and hope for the best.
The gap that started everything
She looked at the market with a fashion designer's eye and a shoe manufacturer's knowledge and still couldn't find what she needed. Elevated enough. Comfortable enough. Priced honestly. They simply didn't exist at that intersection.
Black Tulip · 2023
So she made them. Using the family's production knowledge, her own eye for design, and a very specific brief: the shoes she'd always wanted but couldn't buy anywhere.
The craft behind it
"Three generations of knowing how a great shoe is made. One woman who finally decided to make one she actually wanted."
Most founders talk about quality. Sonam has it in the family. The production knowledge that usually takes decades to build came built-in. What she brought was the woman's perspective, the wardrobe instinct, the refusal to accept almost-right.
I wasn't trying to start a shoe brand. I was trying to solve a problem I had. Turns out, it's a problem a lot of women have. They just didn't have a shoe factory in the family.
Sonam Joshan · Founder
What guides every decision
Three things we won't compromise on.
Quality you can feel immediately
Construction from a family that has spent three generations knowing the difference between made well and made to look well.
Design for real wardrobes
Sonam came from clothing, not footwear. She designed the shoes she couldn't find — the ones that actually work with how women dress, not how campaigns show women dressing.
Honest about what it costs
Priced so that you buy one great pair and wear it for years instead of three average pairs you stop reaching for. Any unsold stock goes to Smart Works, a UK charity that helps unemployed women prepare for job interviews. Nothing goes to waste.
The shoes that started it all
