SLIP INTO COMFORT & GLAM
Stylish slippers for when you’re entertaining at home
When friends and business partners Bianca Gates and Marisa Sharkey met 10 years ago in Manhattan, they never anticipated founding a shoe company. But both had a recurring problem they soon discovered was almost universal: finding fashionable slippers. Of course, you can just keep your heels on when entertaining at home — but what fun is that?
And so the idea for Birdies was hatched. Launched last Thanksgiving, the brand has grown quickly thanks to social media and their respective backgrounds in advertising sales and retail strategy. Gates and Sharkey just wonder why no one else did it first.
A perpetual host, Gates, who lives in San Francisco, loves having people over rather than always going out, and she knows her appearance can set the tone for the evening: “Guests look to the host to see if they’re stressed out, if they need help or if they’re enjoying themselves. If I’m walking around in heels or outdoor shoes, parties suddenly become more formal. So I wear slippers because I want my guests to feel like this is a home where you take off your shoes, and I’m going to pour you a big glass of wine and we’re going to stay a while, unlike you would at a restaurant.” Luckily for frequent guests, Birdies come with their own travel pouch.
As an advertising sales executive at Facebook, it’s not as if Gates had the extra time to start a company. Sharkey had spent seven years with Bain & Company, and then ran corporate strategy for Ross stores in New York. When Sharkey recently relocated with her family to Sacramento, Gates decided to pounce: “I texted her in January last year and said, ‘I have this business idea for us, I’ll call you in the morning.’ And typical of Marisa, she responded immediately and said ‘I need to know now.’ ”
Birdies slippers are lined with memory foam and arch support — something the pair found lacking in other brands. “We would basically rip apart the most expensive shoes. Tears were coming out of our eyes as we were tearing them up,” says Gates.
Says Sharkey: “The thing that is really fantastic about them is that they are extremely comfortable. It’s not like you’re making a trade-off from your frumpy, cozier slippers.” With six styles priced between $120 and $140, the slippers are comparable in cost to their love-to-hate Uggs.
Hesitant to spread the word until the first shipment arrived, Gates and Sharkey quickly tapped into their social media networks once the slippers were a go. “We did not anticipate how fast the power of social media really was. It just exploded, and we had people buying the first couple weeks who we’d notice coming back two weeks later to buy gifts for the holidays,” Gates says.
She declined to reveal how many they’ve sold, but noted that requests from celebrities are trickling in. She anticipates that Mother’s Day will likely provide another boost. Available online and through the occasional trunk show, Birdies may find their way to stores soon — but not the lingerie department.
Says Gates: “For a long time, I thought this was the worst idea ever because I thought if it was so good, someone would have started it already. But I think living here in the Bay Area, you realize that it’s sort of your responsibility to make something happen if you believe that there’s an opportunity.”
“I wear slippers because I want my guests to feel like this is a home where you take off your shoes, and I’m going to pour you a big glass of wine and we’re going to stay a while.”
Bianca Gates, Birdies co-founder
Shop: http://birdiesslippers.com