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Bespoke Shoes: Shoes of Prey
Posted on March 11th, 2010 27 comments
From software to footwear: New online business enables women to design their own personalised shoes.
Wiki states: “In women’s fashion high-end clothing made partly incorporating features requested by the client and to her exact measurements is called haute couture. In menswear, it is usually called bespoke. In menswear, one further distinguishes between made-to-measure (or ’semi-bespoke’), in which a standard pattern is adapted to the customer’s measurements, and (full) bespoke, in which a new design is created from scratch for each customer. Savile Row is a famous district in London legendary for its bespoke tailoring. Charvet in Paris is an example[1] of a famous men’s bespoke shirtmaker which offers both a high-end ready-to-wear as well as a bespoke service.” This blog is about a new startup that makes custom shoes, or bespoke shoes, for women only.
In lives past I have purchased bespoke shoes and as the Geico ads suggests, they are “The bees knees.” I had a black pair to wear with my Navy uniform made in Hong Kong, where you can bespoke virtually everything in a matter of days, and a great pair of tan boots made in Tijuana, back when it was safe to travel there. Shoes of Prey was recently started by three Aussies with legal backgrounds two of which are also ex-Google employees. Lots of juice there. Their press release states:
Finding the perfect pair of women’s shoes just got a lot easier and more interactive, with the launch of Shoes of Prey. The first-of-a-kind website uses online technology to turn women around the world into high-fashion shoe designers.
Shoe shoppers can visit www.shoesofprey.com, design the exact fashion shoe they want and have it shipped worldwide. From high heels to low heels, bows to straps, open toe to closed toe, suede to snakeskin, there’s near-endless choice, with more designs continually being added. As of today, Shoes of Prey’s simple online shoe-designer can be used to create 3.81 x 1022 types of shoes (that’s 381 followed by 20 zeros!). No design experience or special software is required – all that’s required is a web connection and some personal taste. Users can save their designs and get their friends’ comments. The shoes are individually hand-crafted from top-quality materials and are home-delivered with a 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee.
Like all good fashion projects, the site has been in stealth mode for a number of months, before its big unveiling. Its founders are three Australians – former Google employees Michael Fox and Mike Knapp; and Michael’s wife Jodie, the business’ “Director of Fashion”.
“As most girls will know from experience, buying shoes is often a long process that ends in compromise. We wanted to develop a way that girls can easily design the exact high-quality shoes they want. Hopping online and experimenting with our shoe-designer is a fun and easy way to do it,” Jodie said.
“I never thought I’d use my computer coding skills to build something like this.” Mike said. “But the response from our “beta” testers has been off the charts.” (At Google Mike worked as a software engineer on the popular Google Reader application.)
Shoes cost between $180 for ballet flats, up to $280 for a 4½ inch heel. Shipping is $25 per order. (Prices on this page are in US dollars.)
For further information or an interview please contact:
Jodie Fox
Email: jodie@shoesofprey.com
Phone: +61 412-446-958 (Sydney, Australia)
Download a printable PDF copy of this releaseHigh resolution images of shoes and the Shoes of Prey insignia are available here:
http://www.shoesofprey.com/content/media.htmlProfiles of the founders can be found here:
http://www.shoesofprey.com/content/team.htmlHow Shoes of Prey was started and named
Three friends, Jodie, Michael and Mike (well, Jodie and Michael are more than friends – they’re married) had always talked business together – mostly on Michael and Jodie’s oversized couch, laptops in hand.
Jodie had often paid visits to a very special shoe maker in Hong Kong to purchase bespoke shoes. Her popularity amongst her girlfriends had grown in proportion to the number of trips she took there for this purpose. Jodie’s girlfriends loved the shoes as they were hand-made and completely personal to the girl who wore them. After long discussions, Michael thought that Jodie’s passion for bespoke shoes was a potential business idea to share with Mike. And so it was that Mike, Michael and Jodie sat down for a few beers and a chat about heels.
Mike, a computer programmer, thought that the idea could fly and started thinking about how he could create a simple, web-based shoe designer. As the site was prototyped and constructed, shoe designs and materials tested and refined, and beta testers enlisted, momentum started to gather. Mike and Michael left their jobs at Google.
It soon became time to give this crazy idea a name. Over sushi, and many bottles of wine, one balmy Sydney summer evening, a mutual friend, Lisa, put her hands to her temples and blurted out “SHOES OF PREY”.
Michael explains: “The name immediately grabbed everyone. Like the personalized shoes that our customers design, it means something different to each of us. The countdown to our official launch had begun.”
Interesting shoe facts:
- A 2007 poll of 1,057 US women by the Consumer Reports National Research Center for shopping magazine ShopSmart found U.S. women on average own 19 pairs of shoes although they only wear four pairs regularly while 15 percent have over 30 pairs.
- UK Research by Olay in 2008 found that almost two thirds of women own an average of 10 pairs of shoes they have never actually worn or have only put on once or twice.
A Google search on bespoke shoes revealed that across the board such custom made items are VERY expensive making Shoes of Prey a thrifty place to shop. Plus, you get to design your own online. What’s not to like? Hank
27 responses to “Bespoke Shoes: Shoes of Prey”
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Justin de la Chi(cago) March 11th, 2010 at 09:21
Customization has huge potential in any industry….ANY industry, as long as costs remain competitive.
The website is fantastically simple, clean, and organized which I believe is a necessity to any current business. Next girl I fall in love with will get a pair of these, designed by me!
I say, as a man who appreciates the care that goes into selecting the right shoe for a woman, there is nothing sexier than the confidence that comes when a woman wears a shoe that just makes her feel complete. If that comes from a shoe that she makes herself, all the finer.
Thanks for posting this. Inspired ideas are brewing.
J
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Colleen Cahill March 11th, 2010 at 10:37
This is an unhealthy blog for me. I agree with the Justin, the website site is user friendly and fun to play with. This market obviously has huge potential, all woman love shoes and although the prices are steep, it is a great gift idea especially for couples. The ‘Shoes of Prey’ name screams sexy confidence which every woman wants to possess. I’ll definitely be doing some window shopping from this site.
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Jack Kennedy March 11th, 2010 at 10:45
I almost guarantee this business will be successful. My girlfriend would LOVE this.
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Justin Riley March 11th, 2010 at 10:49
I agree with Jack, I can almost guarantee this business will be successful, because women love shoes especially ones that the made all on their own! The prices are about the only bad thing about them, but, as Colleen said, this would be a great gift idea for a special lady in a mans life. I would be surprised if this business does not make it big!
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Loïc mazet March 11th, 2010 at 10:49
I think the idea is amazing. I should work if the quality is good.
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Dan Wyss March 11th, 2010 at 11:27
I agree that this is a great idea and that it will be successful. The fact that it is so simple to do and there are so many different options is a huge plus. Women are always complaining about how women’s shoes are so uncomfortable. Well this is a way to fix that. I think this business will do extremely well.
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Kelly Plantz March 11th, 2010 at 11:39
I absolutely LOVE this idea! I always have such a hard time finding the shoes that are exactly the way I want them. When looking for a pair of heels that I want, there are many things that I like and prefer. I am very picky about what I put on my feet. For some reason whenever I do find a pair of heels that I like there is something that I want to slightly change. This website solves all of those problems. I know that many girls, not just myself, that would love this.
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Alexandra Graves March 11th, 2010 at 12:55
I love this idea!!
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Aditya Chaudhari March 11th, 2010 at 13:02
This is really interesting considering that these shoes are exactly what women look for. I like how it took a problem for a target market and solved it. Hopefully it will be a success.
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Zachary Mirsberger March 11th, 2010 at 13:19
This is a great business idea. This is the best way to allow consumers to be as original as the want by letting them design the items. I think this company will have success in the market.
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Austin Collins March 11th, 2010 at 14:27
This is a great idea because there is a huge market out their for women shoes. Every time I go to the mall to buy shoes it seems that the mens section gets smaller and smaller.
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Justin de la Chi(cago) March 11th, 2010 at 14:47
I had an addendum to my post from above which I failed to parlay.
I remember when I was a kid, and my dad told me how cars were made. We went to see the Ford plant in Michigan, I asked why they made so many if they didn’t know if they had a customer for all of them. This was the beginning of JIT for me. I never really thought about it much until I got into designing and manufacturing for myself, however.
This model being customization and essentially a Just-In-Time Manufacturing process, why are cars still made the same way? People get shoes, people get cars, people get stuff that they have had in the past. I wonder what others think about this.
J
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Ariana Zades March 11th, 2010 at 17:22
Well this is awesome. I absolutely love shoes and often see myself wondering, “Where does Carrie Bradshaw get her shoes?!” (Carrie Bradshaw is the lead actress in Sex and the City, fyi for the men). This is a great business idea and is the best way to let customers get what they want. I think this has the possibility for growth because they offer a variety, which is important when looking for shoes.
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Arpit Bawa March 11th, 2010 at 17:56
This is a very innovative idea, and from the looks of it as one of a kind. I think this business will definitely be a huge success.
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Keegan Klauke March 11th, 2010 at 18:22
now how pricey would it be to custom make these shoes though. I kinda am curious on how this will work with manufacturing them because this design can be extremely pricey. If they can find a way to automate this and have a higher fixed initial cost then the company can shoot for a much more profitable future than having cheap labor work on them in foreign countries.
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Stephanie Mellady March 11th, 2010 at 18:36
This is such a great idea! I would absolutely love to design a pair of my own shoes, too bad i can’t afford it right now! But I bet my mom would go crazy over this.
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Patrick Ostrosky March 11th, 2010 at 22:54
Seems like a reasonable cost for shoes alone…and you get them customized! Customization of products is a huge market. Almost anything you can think of can be customized. Congrats to this company on being a pioneer in online shoe customization.
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Amanda Edmondson March 12th, 2010 at 00:54
Yesterday’s blog discussed cupcakes with a more masculine touch and this blog is doing the opposite. Bespoke shoes were shoes for men and the founders of Shoes of Prey makes customized shoes for women. I like how they were able to determine a gap in the market and capitalize on it. I think women that can afford to spend $200+ on shoes will just go crazy over this. So many women I know complain about “settling” for a shoe instead of finding one that’s perfect for them. This company solves that exact problem because the customer designs the shoe and fit!
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Thomas Gick March 15th, 2010 at 13:08
These guys really have their buiseness model figured out, it’s almost gonna be to easy for them to make money.
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franklin March 20th, 2010 at 21:16
yeah, the idea is really amazing, and i like to learn from her. will i get successful?
My shoes online is http://bit.ly/cboqii -
Mahmood Alrawi March 20th, 2010 at 21:19
this is a great idea….if they can make their name known to the public, this company is not gonna have any problems rolling in the dough.
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Soroosh Karamyar March 21st, 2010 at 17:52
This is a great idea!!!! Sounds like a good business strategy starting the website quietly before a big opening and marketing campaign.
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Josh Graves March 22nd, 2010 at 23:02
too bad Nike already has this covered on their website. shoe customization has been around for a while and this is nothing really disruptive. maybe a little because it is womens’ heels but still…
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Blake Bronowicki March 23rd, 2010 at 09:13
I feel this is a great idea and customization defiantely goes a long way in the market. When targeting specific fashion trends, a diverse group of people will always be interested. As far as shoes go, it will always be something that people take pride in wearing and there are plenty of designer shoes available for both sexs to purchase at all kinds of designer malls. The idea of customization always does well when marketed appropriately so I wonder how well these young entrepreneurs will do. Best of Luck.
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This is a great idea! It is a great company to form. The fun facts about the average women has about 19 pairs of shoes and only wear 4 of them regularly! That seems like a great waste of money and closet space! Those who have over 30 are crazy to own that many pairs of shoes!
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Beck Warwick March 23rd, 2010 at 09:59
i would like to see all clothing become more interactive and customizable over the internet. i know nike has had this capability for their shoes for some time but it is very limited. these internet companies could go even as to have different difficulty levels. say difficult moderate and easy. difficult granting you the most customizable process but also the most in depth and time consuming.
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Courtney M. Cronk March 23rd, 2010 at 20:03
These shoes are pretty cool. I think for the price they could have more options. I feel that out of the options they offer i could find something similar or maybe better for half the price. but I do know how terrible it is to have a shoe in mind that you want and then find out that you cant find it anywhere for the color or style or size that you want. If only they werent 230 a piece dollars i would have 3 new pairs of shoes
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