Hey Kittens! It's Matthew here!
My friend Anna recently told me she’s "a selfish designer". At first I laughed and asked what she meant.
She said she designs things for herself. Things she genuinely wants to wear. If she loves it, trusts it, feels good in it, that’s the starting point.
It got me thinking: that’s exactly how I designed the Thalia boot.
I didn’t design it to be innocuous shoe for the everyday customer.
I designed something I love. Something I’d rather wear than fade quietly into the background.
I’ve worn the electric blue pair through Liverpool Street station and heard someone say to their partner, “Have you ever seen such a blue boot?”.
I still don’t know if that was a compliment or a criticism, but that almost doesn’t matter.
They noticed. And that was the point.
I’d always rather design something that turns heads (sometimes because they're loved, sometimes because they're hated!) than something that passes by unnoticed.
Being a “selfish designer” suddenly sounds like the best place to start. If I love them, others surely will too.
And honestly? I have absolutely no desire to fit in.
I’ll just fit into my Farragos.
M x
