Emerging label Paris Texas has cropped up in the footwear market to fulfill a need for luxury shoes at a contemporary price point — a category that has been making waves in the handbag department but has been slower to develop when it comes to shoes.
The founders of the Italian label, sisters Annamaria and Margherita Brivio, homed in on their knowledge of running Baltimore Studio, a sales showroom in Milan and the multibrand store Norrgatan, building the foundations of the label on simple, highly functional silhouettes and trendy designs: mules in colorful tartan fabrics, playful crystal heart embellishments and knee-high boots in the season’s popular croc and python-effect leathers, quickly became some of their signatures.
“We just wanted to create shoes that are simple in style yet fun and statement in design and texture, using on-trend materials and patterns,” said the Brivio sisters. “The comfort of the heel is an important factor for us, too, as it ensures you never have to take the shoes off. We want our customer to be able to wear Paris Texas shoes from morning to night.”
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Given its highly photogenic styles and competitive price points, the brand has been garnering attention on social media and influencers, from Chiara Ferragni to Eva Chen. Emily Ratajkowski is also a fan — she wore the popular faux croc boots during the September fashion shows.
“The response was huge. We received a lot of collaboration requests, largely from the U.S., after our boots were worn by celebrities and influencers, and made plans to launch e-commerce on our website to make it easier for us to keep up with the high demand for the brand,” said the designers.
In addition to its own e-commerce channel, the brand is looking to expand its retail network outside of Italy, partnering with a small selection of wholesale partners to ensure that the label’s quality standards are met.
“We work with some amazing factories in Italy, and we wanted to keep it close to us so that we can continue to have great quality control. We keep our price points competitive because we don’t have as many shipments to account for, as most brands would,” they added.
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