Helen Mirren declared herself “in love with them” and Gabrielle Union said that “they may be the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn in my life.” Julia Roberts, Viola Davis and Drew Barrymore have worn them at Hollywood premieres. Queen Camilla owns 13 pairs and wears them at almost all of her public engagements.
Sole Bliss, which began in 2017 making shoes for style-conscious women who suffer from bunions and other foot conditions, is not a brand that notoriously screams red carpet glamour. But in recent years, the small British brand has attracted a fan base among celebrities and royals who turn to its shoes for high-profile events that require them to stand for hours on end.
Now, as awards season gathers pace (the Golden Globes air January 7), Sole Bliss has taken a big step into new territory: collaborations. The first is with Elizabeth Stewart, longtime stylist to Roberts, Cate Blanchett and Jessica Chastain, among other Hollywood heavyweights. Ms. Stewart began offering the shoes on trial as an experiment after finding them online in 2020.
“Some of my clients are willing to suffer for beauty, others are not,” Ms. Stewart said. “But when I started offering Sole Bliss as an option, it was remarkable how many came back and said it really worked for them and they felt very comfortable.”
Shoes are now a key tool in Ms. Stewart’s tool kit. “It made sense to put my own stamp on some of the designs I wore the most and prepare them for the red carpet,” she said. Which meant turning up the hype with sky-high heels, brighter shades, and major sparkles.
Ms. Stewart designed two styles: Royalty, a sexy sky-high platform style in four colors with a block heel and ankle-crossing straps and a sparkly sole ($399); and Premiere, a pointed-toe patent leather shoe that comes in six colors and is best suited for daytime events ($349).
The insole technology used by Sole Bliss includes three layers of foam, hidden stretch panels, and a wide toe box. Company founder Lisa Kay spent five years perfecting the design with podiatrists and testing it through market research. A veteran of the leather accessories industry, she founded Sole Bliss after developing a painful bunion and finding few options available for women who still wanted to wear heels.
“It was crazy to me that millions of women were relegated to traditional, comfortable footwear without fashionable alternatives,” she said. “I was confident there would be massive demand given the gap in the market and the number of people suffering from foot problems.”
With the first lockdowns of the pandemic (when the company also launched a line of sneakers), Sole Bliss’ customer base expanded far beyond those with corns, bunions and hammertoes, Kay said. The shoes were welcomed by those who prioritized comfort over flashy brands, including many celebrities. Queen Camilla has worn a solid, no-nonsense style called the Ingrid, which costs $299 and is the company’s best-seller, more than 80 times and even recommended it to “The Great British Bake Off” star Dame Mary Berry , who is now a devotee. .
Ms Mirren wore the Pandora style to the opening night of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and after Gayle King, the TV presenter, posted about the Rubys style she wore to a film premiere in July, “The phone rang non-stop. ”Ms. Kay said. Younger fans include Amanda Seyfried, Jodie Comer and Rebel Wilson.
After hearing about Sole Bliss, this writer (who generally prefers to keep her feet flat on the ground) was ready to try out a gold Ruby-style pair at a holiday party that went into the early hours of the morning.
The 3.5-inch heels, which look a bit like Prada’s chunky platform sandals that sell for four times as much, were really comfortable. At 2 a.m., she didn’t feel the inevitable stabbing pain in the balls of her feet, pinched toes, or pain in her heels.
Ms. Stewart has no qualms about putting Sole Bliss more in the spotlight.
“There’s no bigger test for a high heel than a Hollywood awards ceremony,” she said. “Very few people can wear the couture dresses you see on the red carpet, and this is an everyday brand with shoes designed for everyday women. “I like being the one who makes the decisions and puts them together when the eyes of the world are watching.”
