As a former dancer, Tiffany Tuttle, founder of luxury shoe brand LD Tuttle, knows the importance of comfort-driven design in making or breaking a performance.
“I spent my whole life looking at feet, legs and movement, and shoes were such a part of that,” she said. “I was interested in how the footwear that we wear complements or changes a person’s silhouette, how they carry their body and how they feel, which all relates to comfort.”
After realizing her passion for sketching shoes during her dance downtime could translate to a more viable profession, she went to school in Italy to learn more about shoemaking and pattern construction. On her personal time, she conducted her own field studies, visiting local factories to see the manufacturing process firsthand, before deciding to start a luxury shoe company of her own in 2006. Her company specializes in unique takes on traditional models, and the shoes sell at retailers including Saks Fifth Avenue, Shopbop and The Dreslyn.
Tuttle is among a growing cabal of female founders breaking into the luxury footwear market with a mission to change how women’s shoes are designed, mainly by increasing comfort. While the mid-priced sector of the industry remains fairly saturated, luxury is a largely untapped frontier for rising brands. For one, it’s expensive: Higher-quality materials can be prohibitively costly for any emerging brand. However, it’s been a particularly difficult venture for women trying to push into the business and lend a fresh perspective on design, a trend mirrored by the fashion industry at large in which only 8 percent of CEOs are female.
