We’re excited to welcome The Horse to the Need Supply Co shelves, all the way from Australia. The Horse is the collaborative labor of love of Sydney duo Scott and Amy Hawkes. Their mutual love of all things handcrafted led them to creating the humble shoe label built on the philosophy of producing shoes that not only last, but that take on characteristics of the wearer over time. Personified by names that reflect the each shoe’s character, The Horse’s collection is a fun, folky, vintage aesthetic of intricate upholstery for the modern foot. We got even more insight into the line from Amy Hawkes.
Can you describe The Horse in three words?
AH: Eclectic. Fun. Family.
Who do you design for? Who is The Horse ‘guy’ or ‘girl’ that fits the brand?
AH: We like to describe our core target market as “the fashioned gentleman” and “the discerning lady”. Because our collections tend to have a vintage flavor with a modern take, we find that they are very approachable, so we’ve seen all shapes, ages and sizes join the family.
Can you give us a brief overview of your design process?
AH: Design to production in our world is a three to four month process. It generally starts by sitting down, throwing some ideas around and coming up with a loose range plan. We try to bring back a loved style from a previous collection in a fresh way, and then also develop new styles for that season. Scotty and the team will then mark up designs including what leathers we’re anting to sample in (currently we’re loving using Nubuck and experimenting with suedes). The best bit though is the all-important naming of that particular shoe. We’ve pretty much exhausted our grandparent’s names, but we try and keep it in the family. From there, the first round of samples arrive where we will get together and edit the range, butt heads over leathers and finishes and make final changes. Once final samples arrive it’s time to shoot the campaign and then sell to retailers.
What is the importance of designing (& wearing) shoes that can transition from season to season?
AH: Our goal for each season is to create a collection of classics. We love it when people let us know how “Pearl” saw them across Europe, or how “Charles” gets better with age every year. Personally, I know Scotty and I are big believers in having less, but investing more in quality pieces that are timeless, so we try to incorporate this into the ranges.
Thanks Amy! Shop our selection of The Horse here.
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