Sigerson Morrison

By: Carly Milne | July 02, 2008 | Shopping

They say that clothes make the man, but shoes definitely make the woman. This is something Miranda Morrison and Kari Sigerson know all too well. As the founders and designers of Sigerson Morrison shoes, the two friends have built a cult following – one that includes Hillary Swank and Reese Witherspoon among its ranks – with the pair’s unique take on fashionable footwear.

The road to launching a successful shoe line started on either end of the pond. On one side was Sigerson who grew up in Nebraska and had trouble finding unique footwear that didn’t mimic everything her friends wore. Meanwhile, Morrison was living in London and found her shoe obsession led her to learning about different lines until she realized creating shoes might make a good career.

“I took an accessory design course at the Fashion Institute of Technology, which was in its infancy at the time,” Sigerson recalls. “Miranda and I met there and hit it off. We didn’t just stumble into it out of high school, we were there to design shoes.”

And that’s exactly what they did. They launched Sigerson Morrison in 1991, and since then, they’ve introduced a line of handbags and small leather lines to complement their footwear, branded Belle, a lower-price-point shoe line, caused a frenzy with their kitten-heeled flip-flop and opened stores in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Tokyo. And now you can add Malibu to that list with a 1,500-square-foot shoe mecca in the Country Mart that blends the duo’s natural approach to global design ascetic with a lavishly simple feel.

So, what brings them to Malibu? Sigerson calls it “an incredible, enchanted place with its own brand of sophisticated chic, embodying all the good things about glamour.” Morrison describes it succinctly: “It’s the ultimate enviable place to live.”

The duo’s goal isn’t to change Malibu’s fashion sense so much as it is to enhance it. Says Morrison, “We do a lot that should play well in Malibu. We do fantastic sandals and flats, but then people don’t know we do great party shoes. They’ll be surprised. We’re an insider brand for an insider community.”

Considering their track record thus far, there’s no doubt Malibu tootsies will be welcoming them with pointed toes.

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