Sophie Berman | August 17, 2023

L’idea by Lori: The Story Behind The Brand

L'idea by Lori was born from the idea of bringing our loyal customers the most exclusive and beautifully made shoes out of Europe, and more specifically Italy. Instead of building brand names for others, in 2014 Lori decided to commit to building her own brand: L'idea by Lori. Inspired by the latest fashion trends, but also inspired by the lifestyles and needs of our incredible customers.

To construct the L'idea collection each season takes significant research, focus and energy. We not only come up with exclusive ways to detail and materialize existing styles, but we also design new styles from scratch in an effort to fill voids in the US footwear market. Fortunately, we have amazing factory partners in Italy, many of which are also small, family owned independent businesses. We have worked with many of these factories for over two decades. These partners allow us to create beautiful, exclusive product that is never mass produced. We curate our L'idea collection in 5 different regions of Italy with over 20 individual factories which all have their unique specialty. The L'idea brand is truly for the customer that has grown up shopping with Lori over the years. The L'idea customer understands the uniqueness of the product offering, but even more so the relationship between quality and price. The L'idea collection represents designer quality, handmade in Italy, but at a "bridge to better" price point, without the luxury markup built into the retail prices. Many of the factories that we produce our L'idea collection with, also produce shoes for many well known designer brand names.

The current season of Fall/Winter 2022 has many exciting items. We hit on big trend groups like chunky loafers of every kind, as well as more feminine mary-janes and "baby doll" styles. Short boots and lug sole items still make up a nice section of our offering with classics like our center zip boot updated in beautiful new suede and leather colors. Some tall to the knee fashion boots in gorgeous leathers are also having a moment. As always, fit and comfort are top of mind for the L'idea brand. Materials like wrinkled patents in a wide array of colors, warm sandy suedes, and off white leathers highlight some of the material trends for the season. There are many great core items, but also many "emotional" purchases waiting for you!

After several years of offering the L'idea brand, we began to ask ourselves another question as buyers and business owners: how do we curate a more price-pointed European collection that is accessible for new customers who are just beginning to shop with us? Thus, the MA'91 collection was born. MA is Matt Andre, Lori's son, and '91 is his birth year. The mission of the MA'91 brand is to build a collection of European products, with new and fresh trend driven items, all under $200 at retail. So we began strategizing with current factory partners, and we discovered some new partners along the way to build this more price conscious collection. This season's MA'91 collection features our top selling Ines lace up sneaker ($159.95) in a variety of colors, as well as a group of lug sole boots and loafers with hardware on the same construction. All of the items for this season are wearable and can be styled with nearly anything in your wardrobe. Another standout so far is the Luissa ($199.95) and Linna ($189.95) boots that fit great and appeal to nearly all customers that walk through our doors. The MA'91 brand was a way for us to begin understanding our newest generation of Lori's shoppers, but also giving them options outside of the mass produced brands that are carried in major department stores.



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