The Jutti Return

The 1st thing I made.

Back to where it all began. The whole Jutti story. xx

If you know the story, then you already know. If you have been around long enough to know the Jutti, thank you. I mean it, Thank you so very much. Because this was the dream. The moment. The singular thing that I did. And then I let it unfold.

Before I had a line, I had a coffee date. And at that date, a friend was asking if she should start a shoe line, but was hazy on the details. My big contribution was... I think you should know what it would look like exactly. And I added, if I had a shoe line... I would make a slipper, inspired by the one I bought in India 15 years prior while I was there for my sister's wedding. The one I wore into dust and could not replace, not exactly, because I tried for years. The one I used in 20 years of photoshoots, the one I felt like was magic. And everything channeled out from that thought. That I would make a slipper from this Jutti, I would make a loafer from the slipper, I would make a ballet slipper too. A trio of slippers. I laughed that my dream in that moment was a slipper line. But if you knew me, that would make sense. I was the girl who bought Capezio's by the dozen and wore them for a few weeks at a time until the soles got holes.

I could see it all. I knew the box, the logo, the shape, the font. I knew. And then I left the coffee, and I felt so surreal and strange. I felt that feeling when the sky feels big and the world feels still, that feeling of potential so clear and like everything was possible. I felt like I was going to start a shoe line with absolutely no shoe experience. And by the time I walked to my car, leaving Woodcat in Echo Park, and I drove to the Craftsman house I was working on at the time, on my street, I had shaken off that crazy idea. And then I went to my job, the one I had been at for 12 years as a designer.

And then a few weeks later, it was Covid. And my job paused. And my house I was restoring sold. And I was at home, with all the time in the world and nothing to do for work. And that was magical too. Not the Covid, that was scary and horrible in those first months, but it was the actual minutes and hours of time I was gifted that was magical. Time away from the world of requirements, time to lay in bed while my then baby napped and manifest a new future. Time to dream again and to think about myself.

I decided, that I would do everything I wanted, for myself, and not worry what anyone thought. I told my husband I was starting a slipper line, I told my friends, in our backyard pod, that I was starting a slipper line.

And then I did it.

What stands out to me about Covid, and whatever it was for so many people, and it was different for everyone, was that for me, it was a rebirth. It was a time where I realized that the only person who was going to have my back was me. And I was ready to do that bidding for myself. I was ready to say yes to every single opportunity that came my way, as an independent creative. I was ready to fly on my own and say yes. So that's what I did. I said yes every single day to things that were scary.

And I just kept taking that step forward. I asked to interview a friend of a friend who had a shoe line. I talked to the woman Rachel she introduced me to in Italy. I talked to a factory Rachel introduced me to. I sent the designs to him. I waited. I received a sample that needed some work, and we made those changes. I got a sample I loved. Now what....

I sent out 100 emails to stores I admired. Molly Nutter from ByGeorge emailed me back. She asked me to send her the shoe. I did. I didn't even have a bag or box yet. I wrapped it in the leg of a gauze pant I cut off, because the gauze was pretty. And she bought it. Someone believed in me. And I believed in me.

The Jutti Slipper in Bare

$495.00

The Jutti Slipper in Oxblood

$495.00

I just kept going. One foot in front of the other. One thing at a time. I ordered production. I received it a few months later. In my garage. I made a website myself. I hired a photographer friend Shane, who brought a model, who was his friend who wore a size 7, and we took photos in my bedroom. And I felt community support me. I fell back to doing it small, for me, and in that, it was authentic and came from a place of pure love. No business, just faith. I launched to the few people who followed me, I posted on IG. I hired PR! I don't know how. I just did it. I did things I knew to do. And while I was doing it, I decided I would try and make a loafer body on this slipper soul. To make a loafer and a slipper have a baby.

That that was the thing. The moment.

And it has been about 5 years since those moments.

Photos below are from that 1st shoot in my home with Shane McCauley.

And then I grew. And after about 2 years, I faced growth and problems that come with growth, and I couldn't scale without some big changes. A long list of reasons why I had to move factories, of why I couldn't make this shoe anymore. And the Jutti and I parted ways.

And in time, I found our footing as a slightly bigger brand. But I missed this shoe. I missed this auspicious beginning. I was recently given an opportunity to come back to the maker who made this the first time. And I said yes again. Just like I do. I said yes to myself and what I wanted. And here we are again. Full circle. Coming home to myself.

I am so giddy to have the Jutti back. I love it more than any other thing I have made. And this Jutti! It is not mine. It is inspired by a shoe that belongs to a lineage of India, I am so blessed to have made it acquaintance, for it to have found me.

It was actually painful tonight to publish the shoe, to hit live. Because truly I want to only covet them all for myself. I don't want to share. I would keep all the pairs just for me. Like Gollum. But I did it. They are live.