Accessories and homewares brand Love Hate has launched its first shoe design, the latest addition to its ever-expanding portfolio of products at Life Instyle Melbourne last week.
Designer Geneine Honey has always loved shoes and wanted to add them to her label but wasn’t sure how to go about it until shoemaker Mathilde Boutillier applied for a job at the Love Hate retail store.
“[She] came to her interview in a beautiful pair of Oxfords,” says Honey. “When we found out they were made by her all of us in the office gushed. We are a bunch of girls with a passion for strong design and quality products and these shoes had both of these things in spades.
“I had thought about adding shoes to the collection many times, but there was one thing I knew for certain – we could not make the shoes unless the quality was perfect, and I could not make the shoes unless I had exactly the right person to help.”
The shoes were made in Portugal by a century old factory. They are made of leather with hand stitching and come in sizes 36 to 41.
Honey says Boutillier’s expertise was invaluable in creating the perfect Love Hate shoe.
“Mathilde played two key roles in influencing the design. Firstly she knew what materials we could and could not use so she was able to recommend the type of leather [and] the type of stitching… Then she contributed further by helping to refine the small details… [that] helped bring my vision of the shoe into a refined finished and functional item.”
The shoes merchandise well with Love Hate’s other accessories products including jewellery, bags and tights. Honey recommends the complete look for an on trend window display.
There are plans for three more shoe designs in the works with Love Hate keen to keep its collaboration with Boutillier in place.
Along with the shoes, Love Hate launched a new catalogue of products at Life Instyle with a stand that showed retailers how the collection works as a whole.
“The range is getting huge, but it all works together so well. The colours for every season sit perfectly together and we use good quality materials like porcelain, silver, leather and wood cooper. Our products come packaged and merchandised all together – it really tells a story,” she adds.
Love Hate will also launch its new wholesale online ordering system. Run like a web store, retailers can purchase stock, place back orders, cancel orders and look at past accounts. It also has inventory to provide accurate details on what is in stock.
