Be Badass & Beautiful in RoxAnneLava Shoes
Hand-made to order retro inspired mules using intentionally sourced reused or imperfect leather
Meet Roxannelava
The Day I Fell in Love with ... SHOES!
In 1970 I walked past a boutique window in the Chalfont-Haddon Hall Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey and fell in love. The object of my desire – mauve suede knee-high lace up boots-rounded-toe, boxy heel, black grommets and laces. Italian, expensive. I could tell the leather was soft as butter. They reminded me of the boots Nancy Sinatra was singing about in “These Boots are Made for Walkin'”. I love that song. I was 8 years old. Sadly our relationship was not meant to be, but my passion for shoes was born.
Since that day I have appreciated shoes as an admirer, customer and collector. I have a wide variety of styles from all sorts of price points. The running theme for me is “bad ass and beautiful”. I spend most of my time in boots, booties or sandals, but I have my share of pumps and slingbacks as well.
Several years ago I decided I’d like to spend the next stage of my life as a shoemaker. Designing and making – yes, MAKING shoes. I’ve been a creative and entrepreneur all my life. I love to build things so shoes seemed to be a natural next step. I started with strappy sandals made from component parts in 6 hours in London along with a 2-day shoe design seminar. My next stab was a 7-day pump making workshop in Ashland, Oregon where I learned to make almost all of the shoe by hand. In 2016, I attended a shoe symposium and got the final piece to the puzzle, suppliers of small quantities for small batch shops.
