Sarah Fiszel
speaker
104 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard Apr 2025
last heard Apr 2025
Sarah Fiszel’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
Great. Great. Well, my journey to starting Brave Pudding wasn't... I didn't set out to start a business, which I think you have to really be open to because things develop at the right time when you're ready. And I'd always had drawers full of beautiful socks, and I never wanted to wear them. And because the minute you wear a sock, they either get...
worn in the heel or roughed up in the back or a ball.
Like, is it the, you can see the part that peeks through above the shoe or? I think it comes down to the fabric because of Brave Pudding and my sort of concept of lifestyle is just to be comfortable and luxurious, but not necessarily screaming it. And so the comfort, the fit, the style, the look, all of that is super important to me. So that's what I think makes the best sock.
And then I love fun colors too in socks. And it just happened at the right time. It didn't start out to be a trend, but at the same time, everyone started wearing socks again and wearing high socks and wearing socks over your pants. And so it sort of coincided in this perfect storm, but I had just not set out to to start a business.
But when I was looking at all my socks, I didn't, I wanted to wear them. And one day I had been wearing Belgian shoes forever since I was like 20 years old. I thought it was really funny to be retro and be in sort of a modern outfit, but wear super grandma Belgian shoes. And yeah, actually they won't sell them to you unless you go into the store. I mean, they're very particular.
And I love that because it means that they really care about their shoes and sort of like last bastion of something that's still really special. So I'd wear them and I'd put soles on them or I'd go to Paris and buy Charvet slippers and put soles on them and wear them outside. And I was like, I want to be even more comfortable. And I think post COVID, that's what people really, everybody changed.
And so how do you redefine that? People wanted to be out of their sweatpants, they wanted to be out of their yoga clothes, but sort of how does that translate in the modern world post the pandemic? And people spent more than ever in interior design. because they were staying home more.
And I felt like I wanted to take the comfort that I feel inside with all my cozy blankets and pajamas and loungewear and cozies. I wanted to bring that outside. I didn't want to take them off to leave. And so it was the perfect hybrid. I just started playing around with glue. The cobblers in New York City are amazing. It's sort of a
lost trade that doesn't exist in a lot of other cities anymore and they gave me advice and they're the nicest guys and they said no you have to do it this way no back we won't hold right because what was the knowledge you had prior to that and making zero right i was not a cobbler on the accident i thought you were a cobbler your whole life
i did go to cornell textile and design school okay so you had some of that i did and i worked at ralph lauren in the corporate offices when i was in high school and i would go every day after school in my uniform from nightingale so you had retail in your blood you were really interesting the interest was always there yes um i remember my first job was at nine years old was selling men shirts in east hampton at this old springer store and i learned about
the quality and how you sell something and how it feels and touches. And so I think that was really influential. And then I just started messing around and wearing them. And I was private on Instagram and people started DMing me to place orders and fast forward making them in my bathroom. They were drying on my dining room table.
My little son was helping me bag them up in half baguette bags to be delivered with Japanese washi tape. Yeah, it was such a wonderful experience, and I think it was amazing to have the kids in the house.
Is it small, medium, or large? Yeah, so fast forward, we decided to make it into a real product. After selling almost 100, you know, we were like, let's see if this can be a real business.
And I wanted it to feel exactly as though you were wearing the most beautiful, pristine cashmere sock that never got dirty, never wore out, never had all the problems with socks, but also somehow translated to wear them outside. And they come in whole sizes. There's a full internal construction. So it's deceptive. It looks like you're just wearing a sock.
But I like to say it's almost like a costume. There's a full shoe. It just looks like a sock. But I think it's been definitely controversial and received a lot of attention because I think it's different. And people say, like, I'm not going to wear my sock. on the street. I don't wear my underwear on the street. You know, they think of it as sort of this category that falls into interest today.
And so it's shocking, but I like that because that means you're doing something different. I'm not the first person to make a sock shoe, but I do think that I'm the first person to make a comfortable, working, amazing shoe that looks like a sock. Sarah, do you have one on?
I haven't worn another pair of shoes since October 2020. Oh my God. I have to be a walking billboard. Right.
this is cool thank you there's a real internal shoe yeah and if you feel it there's a very big insole so i custom injected the insoles because i really wanted it to be comfortable i'm from new york city right i had to be able to walk in them i wanted them more comfortable yeah very cool thank you made in new york no it's made in portugal out of we have three different um factories we have
one that knits the socks out of recycled cashmere, one that injects the insole, and then one that makes the outsole out of recycled rubber, tonal to the color of the socks. And then they put it all together in another factory. So we work out of Portugal. It was really great working there. I would love to bring production to the US. I might not have the knowledge to do this yet, but we will.
We'll figure it out.
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