Amanda Luisa from I Can Make Shoes gives us a sneak peek into her bespoke shoe making service as she prepares to launch her boutique on ASOS Marketplace.
Q: Describe your boutique in one sentence.
A: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium!
Q: How did ‘I can Make Shoes’ get started?
A: I had developed a way of making shoes without the use of heavy machinery and began making shoes for clients and friends. I always had people watching me saying “Ooohh...I wish I could do that!”
There’s no reason why someone can’t make shoes, even from home so I developed my first shoe making workshop. ‘I Can Make Shoes’ has now grown into a bespoke shoe making and re-upholstering service, with shoe-making workshops running alongside it all.
The idea of my online boutique is for the buyer to have creative input to the shoes, it has always been about giving people what THEY want not what designers tell them they should want.
Q: What is the thought process and inspiration behind each new shoe?
A: I mostly get my inspiration from the streets of East London, but once I’ve drawn up a sketch, the first thing I think about is versatility. Will this look good as a flat shoe, a high heel, a wedge? Will this look good in any colour? Will this work in Leather, suede, canvas? The shoes are born out my ideas, but ultimately it's the buyer that needs to put the shoe together and decide what they like, so really the thought process for me includes visualising each design in each shape, style and colour variation possible.
Q: How do you hope to keep your boutique buyers happy?
A: In new shoes – it’s hard not to be happy! Our buyers will have also actually contributed to the design of their new shoes, so they can say "these are mine!”
Q: There was an old lady who lived in her shoe. If you had to pick one shoe to live in, what would it be?
A: I would live inside a pair of Alexander McQueen Armadillos, imagine all the space for decorating inside a giant one of those!
Q: If you shoes could time travel, where would you like to see a pair end up?
A: I would love to see a ‘60s Playboy bunny wearing a pair of my ‘Red Velvet’ high heel loafers strutting about the original Playboy Club in Chicago.