Jen Bonopartis giving my friend Rachel Pearl the tour of custom shoes. (BTW – Rachel is an Asst Designer for DKNY and I will have more about her later)

I am back in Miami attempting to take in all that my trip to NYC had to offer last week. It certainly was an interesting trip and I had a great time! One of the highlights was the opportunity to observe a Jen + Kim custom shoe party in action. Lucky for me, they just happened to throw their first party in New York the same week I was going to be there. In case you don’t recall the previous posting contributed by Kim Dingman describing what they do, please check it out here.

Look at all the possibilities!

The party was held at Laser Touch Salon in SoHo and as I was walking up the street looking for the salon, my eye caught a row of shoes peeping out a second story window and sure enough, that is where we were heading. As my friend Rachel and I walked in we were immediately greeted with hugs from Jen and Kim both. It’s funny how we already felt as if we had known each other, yet this was the first time meeting in person. The party started at 3pm and was set to go until 10pm. To my surprise, even though it was barely past 3, they already had quite the crowd. The host of the party was Regalia Thomas who like Jen and Kim is a former New Yorker who is now lives in L.A. She is one of their best customers and when she was approached about hosting a party in NY, she happily said yes. While we were there, we witnessed the girls write 4 orders in only an hour! What slow economy? From what we saw, the attendees were not afraid to whip out their pocket books for the opportunity to own their very own custom designed shoes. It was quite fun.

Kim in action….notice her two different shoes!

I was pleasantly surprised by how many different materials were offered and when they say you have the ability to custom make your own shoes, they aren’t kidding! They had many samples of materials from ranging in color and print. The opportunities are literally endless. You simply pick a style and then coordinate the materials you want it made with. It sounds easier than it is when you are sitting in front of all the wonderful possibilities while staring at all the beautiful samples. These types of decisions can be tough, but fortunately, Jen and Kim are pros and will help guide you in the right direction. One can definitely see their love for what they do.

Jen measuring her new customers foot.

I asked Kim about how the partnership between her and Jen works and basically Jen comes from a retail and wholesale background so she handles more of the business end. Kim is the creative and works with all the manufacturers and production. She spends most of her mornings at various manufacturing sites out in L.A. working hands on with the shoemakers to ensure the product is made up to par. She loves watching the product come to life all from the imagination of her customers. One of the unique ways they ensure a great fit is by tracing the foot as you can see from the pic below. This gives the shoemaker the ability to create a shoe that is fit for the shape of the customer’s foot exactly, making the shoe more comfortable. Speaking to the exact point was Regalia, who bragged about how she had just run down the street for 5 blocks in her heels and her feet did not hurt at all. That is saying a lot.

The host, Regalia Thomas. Her shoes were awesome!

They had invited 300 people to their party and from the looks of things it seems they had a huge success. What a fun idea and great concept. I asked the ladies how they plan to grow and their goal would be to throw parties all over the country.  They obviously cannot attend them all, so their hosts would have to learn about the materials and the way the shoes are constructed and then pitch the ideas to different groups of women. It almost seems to me that it could be the Mary Kay of the footwear industry except way cooler and way more fun, but you get the idea!! I really enjoyed meeting Jen and Kim. They were as sweet as can be and obviously they are on to something! I know there are other custom shoe makers out there, but none as cool as these two from what I have seen. I am a big fan and cannot wait to make my own!

Kim, me and Jen – My new BFF’s haha

The dynamic duo!

You could see these displayed from the street below…..great marketing!