Online retailer is a step above
Christine Carlton and Aynsley Wintrip Harris bring designer shoes to Canada’s online marketplace
Q Can you briefly describe your website?
A Aynsley Wintrip Harris: We describe The September as Canada’s online destination for designer shoes. We sell designer shoes from the brands that Canadian women love to shop, such as Valentino, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors, alongside emerging brands we’ve discovered that we think they will love. Paul Andrew and Aquazzura may not be household names now, but we’re confident that they will be very soon! We aim to create a rewarding shopping experience. As part of that, we offer free shipping and free returns, to take any worry or concern out of shopping online. We also create unique content to keep our customers engaged and inspired. We feature monthly Style Profiles of Canadian tastemakers, sharing their stories about fashion and lifestyle.
Q What’s new for the upcoming season?
A There is a lot new on the site for spring. We receive new product on a weekly basis, so there’s always something to look forward to. Colour is a prominent theme with bright coral, electric purple and canary yellow, to name a few. Texture is also front and centre, with animal prints in calf hair, lots of snake, which also happens to come in many colours, and even feathers. There’s plenty of pattern from florals, to stripes and ethnic prints. We’ve also introduced some new brands this season, including Charles Philip Shanghai, Reed Krakoff and Tabitha Simmons.
Q Who is your main market?
A The September is for women like us who have been longing to shop online for shoes without having to pay the extra duty and shipping charges that come along with shopping U. S.- based and international sites. They’re quite often busy women who don’t have the time to go out shopping and appreciate the convenience of being able to do so from home or the office. They are also young women who do everything online and expect to be able to buy what they want with the click of a button.
Q Which brands do you carry?
A We carry Aquazzura, Brian Atwood, Casadei, Charles Philip Shanghai, L. K. Bennett, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Paul Andrew, Reed Krakoff, Tabitha Simmons and Valentino. Stay tuned, because we’re adding some more great new brands for Fall 2014.
Q How did you get into this business? A It started with a very casual conversation about the lack of online shopping in Canada. We’ve been close friends for more than 20 years — we were university roommates — and we happen to have built our careers working for luxury brands: Holt Renfrew and Four Seasons. We realized very quickly that we have the perfect mix of experience and skills to bring an online shopping site to life. We did some research and everything pointed in the right direction. So we decided to pursue it from that day forward and never turned back.
Q What inspires you to choose a certain brand/ design?
A Each season we carefully curate an assortment that includes a variety of styles within each brand, but the common thread is sophistication. When we visit a designer showroom in New York, Milan or Paris, we look for styles that touch on the trends, but with a sophisticated and elegant esthetic. Q Where do you work?
A We have a lean and mean team at the office, which is a studio loft space in the West End of Toronto. The building we’re in is a former rubber factory where they used to make hockey pucks. It doesn’t get much more Canadian than that! Q What’s the price point of the shoes on your site? A Our prices range from $ 175 to $ 1,500. There is literally something for everyone on our site. Q Is there any chance you will branch beyond just shoes in the future? A
Anything is possible!