It started with an e-mail from one of my regular readers asking if I'd seen the "cool wood wedges" from Madison Harding. I paid their site a visit and figured I'd showcase a pair in my next What's New? post. But as I dug through the styles on their web pages, I realized that just posting a shoe or two wouldn't do them justice. This refreshing design duo with the presidential sounding brand name has got some magic brewing. And anybody who can survive in the fashion world as long as they have definitely deserves some proper attention.
Madison Harding founders Hilary Rosenman and Barri Budin met while studying art at Skidmore College, but pursued different career paths through the fashion industry: Hilary followed a path into fashion periodicals and design and production while Barri sought out positions in sales, design, and public relations. Living the lifestyle of "the downtown city girl", they both noticed the lack of accessible high-fashion shoes designed with women like them in mind. So they did what every frustrated shopper wishes was within the realm of possibility: they launched their own line of shoes. Now that takes some gumption! And once I saw that, I knew I had to talk to these women and find out more about how they brought their designs from the drawing table to the store shelf. Be sure to pay a visit to the Madison Harding website to view the full range of their collections. They do much more than wood soled designs, but I'll let you hunt those out on your own!
By the way, if you're wondering where the name Madison Harding comes from, there's no magical tale of favorite presidents or mother's maiden names to tell. (Though I am fond of the street savvy nickname given the line by one journal: Mad Hard.) It's simply the combination of the street names where they grew up in New York City and New Jersey.
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Terrapin wedge sandal in camel
ECHID: How did you make the leap from your day jobs to launch your own brand? As someone who doesn't know the fashion industry intimately, it sounds like a pretty courageous step to take. Where did you find the inner inspiration to make it happen?
BARRI: It was definitely not an easy road! We started out 5 or 6 years ago both still working full time at other jobs and then getting together after work at one of our East Village apartments with a bottle of wine, inspiration books, and a whole lot of drive and motivation. We just knew that there was something missing from the market and knew girls like us were constantly searching for it. We started off by designing the collection and then finding a factory to make us samples.
Delilah wedge sandal in sunflower
Samson wedge sandal in black
After shopping the first samples around to sales showrooms we realized the quality was not so great so we held off that season and refined the quality for the next. We then got a cool showroom and the selling began. At the same time, we called on all of the people we knew in PR and so landed great press in Daily Candy, Lucky, and Footwear News.
Just some of the magazine placements for Madison Harding
ECHID: And then the next question has to be, what have been the ingredients to surviving? It's one thing to launch a line. But then to come back and do it again and again and again year after year and still be getting recognition in the marketplace, that is a major accomplishment. How did you do it?
BARRI: Again, it has not been easy! We have been so close to giving up so many times! I guess the motivation to keep going is the reflection on how many times things didn't go as we hoped and we thought it was the end of the world only to have come out of OK...maybe just with a new direction that we did not even think of. Remembering that things always have a way of working out how they should is helpful to keep the faith and move forward. You gotta roll with the punches and think out of the box! It also helps to have a partner who can boost me up when I am feeling low and vice versa. [Ed. note: Though it seems to me you could always go try on your shoes if you needed a pick me up!]
Gloria peep toe clog sandal in black
ECHID: What's your earliest shoe memory?
BARRI: My mom had these mauve, nubuck, perforated, closed toe, high heel clogs from the '70s or '80s that I used to wear around the house when I was 4 or 5. They were very disco fabulous and I felt like a fancy lady!
Ripple mule in powder
ECHID: When did you realize that you wanted to make shoes of your own?
BARRI: Hilary and I both love vintage and have been collecting since high school. I think it was one of the things that we connected on when we met at college. After college I gave her a pair of vintage shoes from my collection every year for her birthday. We didnt know it then, but unconsciously, I think we both realized something was missing from the market and more girls like us also wanted amazing vintage shoes. After a few years when we both wanted to start something of our own, shoes was clearly the direction we both wanted to go in.
ECHID: The Madison Harding collections are created for "the downtown city girl". That seems like a very fickle and hard to track fashion species. How did you conceive of what to create for so specific a customer?
BARRI: We basically created for ourselves and our friends who all are "the downtown city girls".
Wood wedge from the Madison Harding Spring 2007 collection
ECHID: In addition to your leather styles, you two have been creating wood soled shoes since your first collection for spring 2007. Clearly there was a conscious decision to work with wood. Why?
BARRI: We love the natural yet sturdy quality of working with wood. There is also a clear vintage reference to the '70s which we always gravitate towards.
ECHID: Have you ever spotted one of your shoes in the wild?
BARRI: Yes, and it is the best feeling on earth! The end all, be all of validation!
Val boot from the Madison Harding Fall 2010 Lookbook and Collection
ECHID: What are you most proud of about the Madison Harding line?
BARRI: That is it original yet wearable, and we have something for everyone. Also, everything is now made in Brazil and the quality is amazing.
Cassidy sandal in cream
Sugaree sandal in army
ECHID: If one of my readers is interested in a specific style, how can she track it down for purchase?
BARRI: You can e-mail us anytime at shop@madisonharding.com and we will help locate a style.
Hilary and Barri, downtown city girls in search of the perfect footwear
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EXTRA CREDIT: The Spring 2011 collection from Madison Harding features styles named Cassidy, Delilah, Gloria, Magnolia, Ripple, Roberta, Samson, Sugaree, and Terrapin. Anybody see a pattern here? I asked my interviewee what the story was, but I wanted to see if you could figure it out first.
Roberta wedge sandal in navy
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[On my feet as I blog: spending the day doing nothing except nurse a head cold with my Charli-C clogs from Jeffrey Campbell on my feet.]
