IN HER SHOES
Actress found a way to be true to herself and beloved character
Sarah Jessica Parker’s new Manhattan location adds to her growing stiletto empire,
Sarah Jessica Parker is holding court inside her new shoe store in lower Manhattan, wearing a pair of her own heels and surrounded by cameras and staff. Outside, past the security guards, dozens of fans are lined up to meet her and perhaps buy some sandals. Passersby scurry up to the windows to snap a quick pic.
“We’re very lucky to have this spot,” Parker says, gliding over to a couch in the middle of her shop, the latest outpost for her slowly expanding stiletto empire. A portrait of herself trying on a pair of red pumps beside piles of shoeboxes hangs behind her. She explains why she likes being amid the cobblestones of New York’s South Street Seaport, dangerous territory for any four-inch heel. “The comings and the goings and the traffic — I just love it.”
Parker, 53, has already built a sizable business on the back of a character she played on televi- sion. Her lead role as Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s Sex and the City spanned 94 episodes, two feature films and still airs in syndication worldwide. Carrie held significant fashion influence during her heyday, popularizing various brands of shoes and jewelry. But it was always, always about the shoes. She loved Jimmy Choos, Christian Louboutins and Manolo Blahniks. That’s left Carrie, and the woman who played her, eternally linked to fancy footwear.
Her shoe line is mostly made up of various high-heels and pumps, from chunky booties to four-inch stilettos. There are a few flats, too. They’re made in Italy and sold both at her boutiques and such luxury department stores as Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. Prices range from $250 sandals to high boots that go for $600.
Parker — and Carrie — each boast an astounding longevity that’s helped her business stay relevant. Though Parker still appears on television in shows such as NBC’s Divorce, she’s far from the pop culture epicentre she occupied in Sex and the City’s prime. After the second feature film came out in 2010, Parker says she was repeatedly approached about starting a shoe line. She turned them all down. She recalls sitting down for lunch with a group of women entrepreneurs who asked her why she wouldn’t go through with it: Parker says she told them she didn’t feel “honourable” about it. “They wanted me to make shoes to sell for $69 and they would be mass and we’d produce them in China by the thousands and we’d all get rich,” she recalls. “I couldn’t do it.” By 2014, Parker found a way to make it honourable. She went into business with George Malkemus, president of shoe label Manolo Blahnik USA — a union that brought Carrie Bradshaw home to the brand she made famous. Parker’s shoe brand has been around for four years and continues to expand, albeit slowly. The company declined to share sales figures or if it’s profitable, but did say management is “very pleased” with the ongoing growth.
The SJP collection now has shops in New York, Las Vegas, Dubai and Washington. Glamour shots of Parker grace each location, of course, with shelves of high heels stacked to the ceiling.