SOCIAL: Paul Drish Spring Preview Party
When we last left off with shoe brand Paul Drish we left loving everything and wondering what was next from the stylish yet undeniably comfortable shoe brand. We headed over to preview their Spring Capsule Collection, which was held at their showroom exclusively for menswear editors. For their inaugural spring collection, they decide to add color to their line. Oranges and bright blues, it allowed the brand to a chance and explore their wild side. Seeing familiar faces from the launch party, we learned that this wasn't the only new thing Paul Drish was premiering tonight. We caught up with co-founder Arveena Ahluwalia to dish on Drish's newest features.
Labeling Men: Tell us, what inspired the Spring Capsule Collection?
Arveena Ahluwalia: It was our first launch and it was nature. The blue of the water, I wanted a pop in color and coral and blue just stood out and we're New York so a little bit of a New York mix as well. The blue and orange "Spencer," which is a play on "Darby," just wanted to have a little fun, have something for everyone. We thought about it, since we are inspired by New York essentially, it's like we also want the Conneticut guy taken care of, so that's why you have the Python Driver whose name is "Preston," it's a python print, it's Hamptons, it's everywhere.
Labeling Men: For sure, it's Hamptons, it's southern, it's everything.
Arveena Ahluwalia: Actually you see the Darby in white, what inspired that was the streets of New York, I would see all of these colorful brownstones opposite this place [the showroom] and I was staring at them thinking it would be so nice to have a white colored "Darby" and the steers of New York really inspired it.
Labeling Men: That is great. We heard that you expanded to include shoe sizes up to Size 17! Tell us why you decided to go for that niche market.
Arveena Ahluwalia: We feel that those sizes, 13 and onward, haven't been catered to. Because we have our tanneries and our production facilities,, we have the ability to test lasts for bigger sizes and we make them for a lot of German brands who are very used to large feet, but that market is very underserved in the US and we feel that all men deserve to be taken care of, not just to conform the standard size.
Labeling Men: Last but not least, we are blown away by the fact that you can make your own shoe in two weeks.
Arveena Ahluwalia: It;s approximately 14 business days.
Labeling Men: That is still amazing because normally it takes 6-8 weeks minimum.
Arveena Ahluwalia: One of the reasons again is because I think about the customer and wanting to elevate the customer experience and I wanted it to be a play on words which is why I created this space to give the experience! It's the same thing with timing, we want things soon! Why should somebody have to wait two, three months or even one month?! This is why we have our facilities dedicated to Paul Drish where we can make the shoes expedited.
Custom shoes that we can tailor make for our men...Yes, please! For the #CaptainKennedy of ours, you can even get them monogrammed. For the rest of our labels, you can go as custom as you'd like, even developing your own personal last [mold of the shoe] if you decide that this service will exactly what you need.
Shop Paul Drish at pauldrish.com and customize your shoes here
Photos and interview by Nisim Frank
