You won’t find a pair syrup boots with heels less than five inches. Some styles, like silver sequins kitty dance floor — an amazing sparkling, ankle-high specimen complete with a bezel — an even watch at six o’clock. The appropriately named shoe is perfect for the hottest nightclub in town, or any odd job, according to Co-Founder Shaobo Han.
“Syro shoes are used to walk along the aisles of the local grocery store,” says Han. “We aim to normalize the feminine expression for our gay clients. Offstage, off the runway, on the street — that’s where you’ll find us. That’s the real problem. .”
Since its launch in 2016, Syro has designed and manufactured full-size high heels specifically for US men aged 8 to 14. Now, nearly eight years later, Syro is still what Han calls a “self-service effort,” in that it caters to the majority of the underserved population of the footwear market, including Han and his co-founders. their founder, Henry Bae.
Han, who was born in Southwest China and raised in Flushing, Queens, said: “The Syro mission is a deeply personal one for both of us because we have shared experiences. as peculiar youths growing up in a homophobic and discriminatory society. They met Bae online in their freshman year of college. “Liberating and discovering femininity is intrinsic to our growth and something we’ve empowered ourselves to fight for with our gay community. It goes beyond anything. fashion trends or marketable products.”
In the fashion sector, Syro is part of a new generation of footwear brands that offer inclusive sizes to an inclusive customer base – a kind of long overdue advancement. While advocates and activists have made gradual progress in garment size expansionfootwear is still a sort of final frontier.
As it turns out, it comes down to the numbers: It’s more expensive to make larger shoes than smaller shoes, and many companies are unwilling to invest in these increased production costs without a profit. Proven. However, the available case studies and labels like Han’s aren’t just deconstructing archaic genders and size standards — they’re doing so in an accessible manner, ensuring that all Anyone who wants to participate can join.
Syro Kitten Black boots, available in sizes 8 to 14 for US men.
Photo: Joey Whitley/Courtesy of SYRO
The average American woman is somewhere between 8.5 and 9 in shoes, while for men the average shoe size is supposed to be about 10.5. This is widely reflected in retail stores, especially in luxury goods: At Net-a-Porter, for example, a boot like the ones Syro can make just for 13-year-old US women; high heels not available at its mens-focused website, porterwhose footwear choices are limited to 15 years of age men in the United States.
But true inclusiveness goes beyond shoe size. It also extends to factors such as the width of the sole and, for boots, the width of the calf; the latter has become a major focus of the inclusive community recently. As a result, wide-leg boots have become more common in retail stores — brands like Sam Edelman and Stuart Weitzman now offers boots in wide and narrow widths — but they are not yet the industry standard. And the footwear market remains amazingly gender-neutral, with heels of all sizes (with or without embellishments) quite hard to reach at mass multi-brand retailers. . Of course, the exception is one Rick Owenshave towering platforms that often clock in the four-digit range.
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The way we discuss shoe sizes is also systematically divided by gender: The way we talk about the size of a large or small shoe is inseparable from a binary understanding of shape and the size of “women” and “men” feet in general.
Sadi . Film Studio is a newly launched footwear brand that offers all shoe styles in sizes 5 to 16 for US women and caters to all body types and gender expressions. It aims to curb inaccessible pricing by adapting its supply chain: Like Syro, it works with a group of factories in China that share the brand’s mission of meeting Meeting a wide range of customers and experiences, as the brand explains, allows for a more accessible price tag under $300.
Soyeon “Sarah” Ahn Ianni, who co-founded Sadi Studios with her husband, said: “With shoes that include sizing, it becomes more expensive with every last mold, every heel mold, every outsole mold that you make. you open”. developer Dominic Ianni, and previously cut teeth at Center Saint Martins and London College of Fashion. (Size-specific details are dictated by the end of the shoe, or a carved wood or plastic mold that simulates the foot to give the shoe its shape.) “Leather consumption is higher with size shoes. 16 women’s to women’s size 5, so the supplier would say, ‘Would you pay more for this shoe?’ And I don’t think that’s fair. You shouldn’t pay more for your shoes just because you’re wearing a larger size.”
Sadi Studios offers shoe styles, including those pictured above, in sizes 5 to 16 for women in the United States.
Photo: Courtesy of Sadi Studios
To craft their shoes, Sadi Studio’s Chinese manufacturing partners use a combination of leather and recycled plastic before shipping the products to the United States for direct-to-consumer distribution. In addition to boots, the brand offers heels, sandals and more with a sweet color mix of shades and no shortage of decorative details. Its Ton heel — a striking piece made of shimmering transparent Perspex and silk moire — perfect for one’s wedding day. Both Sarah and Dominic say that the brand’s block heels are comfortable to wear all day.
“I’m wearing one of those black boots every day,” Dominic said. “We wanted to add other styles that had more everyday functionality, as well as some really cool stuff like, ‘Okay, I’m out. I really want to go back.’
Ultimately, both Sarah and Dominic predict that inclusive footwear sizing will hit the mass market, if only for the sake of consumers that won’t leave retailers any other choice. Syro co-founder Han is also upbeat, arguing that as gender flexibility becomes more and more widely accepted in mainstream Western culture, the current commercial brands incorporating sizing for all genders is only a matter of time. (Han gives an example of Jeffrey Campbell.)
But before that can happen, Dominic says that brands like Sadi Studios have to prove they’re successful from the start, and that’s part of the plan.
“We need people to respect what we’re doing, to make our name in the industry. Then I feel like other brands will take note and say, ‘This is what we need to deliver. level’,” Dominic said. “And in the end, that’s what we want. We want the industry to change because it’s going to be better for more people.”
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