Tell us about habbot.
habbot is an Australian shoe brand known for its distinctive, high-quality footwear. The brand focuses on creating sophisticated yet comfortable shoes, often featuring unique designs and premium materials. habbot is particularly recognised for its attention to craftsmanship, combining contemporary aesthetics with classic elements.
What inspired you to start habbot?
After finishing university, I lived in London for a few years, and during that time I spent a lot of time pounding the pavement in Paris visiting small fashion and footwear boutiques (and even in the glorious departments stores) discovering independent brands of shoes that I had never heard of on the global fashion stage. I just loved them and the fact they were beautifully made, but just had SO much personality. Loads of flats and mid-heels shoes in bright colours, amazing materials that were combined in such clever ways. It really opened my eyes to a new type of shoe category that we just didn’t really have at home.
Tell us about your career and background.
Born into retailing, I have combined this familial knowledge with qualifications in commerce, design and shoe-making and international buying department experience working with Net-a-porter and Sass & Bide, to establish habbot.
Describe a typical work day for you.
Usually, I’m up early and out the door by about 6:30am to beat the traffic and get across town to the office with a couple of hours of uninterrupted work time before the rest of the office arrives. I generally try to do wither creative work or complicated work in those early hours, and save the email responses and meetings until after that. I rarely leave the office during the day, lunch at the desk, and 3-4 cups of tea before heaving back to pick up my kids from primary school. In a perfect world, I don’t do much work at home, with the exception of WhatsApp chats with my Italian shoemakers when they get to work between 4-5pm our time.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business?
Clarify your vision of your brand, and stay true to it. As you navigate the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, keep your core values and brand vision at the forefront. This will guide your decisions and help you build a loyal customer base that resonates with your mission. Write a list of ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ to help you keep on track when the pressure is on.
Embrace feedback and delegate. Listen to your customers and your team. Constructive criticism is invaluable for growth. Be willing to adapt and innovate based on what you learn, and share the responsibility around so you develop as a business and as a team.
Tell us about last week’s 15th anniversary celebrations. What can we expect?
The month-long celebrations will have a strong emphasis on honouring our most popular designs, reimagined in a Glitter Icons Collection whilst also saluting our connection to Italy.
The iconic leather glitter shoe is one of habbot’s most recognised and loved styles which has been part of the habbot collection since its inception, available in 3 limited edition designs, these are a fun and playful shoe that reflects habbot so well.
During November, the habbot studio store will come alive with the launch of the habbot Gastronomia. Alongside the release of the limited-edition Italian-made Glitter Icons Collection, a curated selection of imported Italian pieces alongside local Italian-inspired wares will be available to purchase in-store during November, making the habbot studio store a must-visit for all Italian-core enthusiasts. We’ve got Saturday Night Pasta, Patrizia Italiano and Bitossi Home ceramics from Emporean, Nesti Dante and Carthusia sensory products by Saison, Bonnie and Neil tableware, Thames and Hudson and Smith Street Italian Books and art by Alice Oehr plus some grocery items from the Mediterranean Wholesalers. .
There will be a special still life master class with Alice Oehr on Wednesday 13 November! We’ve also curated a playlist, and all the month-long activities can be found here.
What’s next for you, and habbot?
We’re looking forward to exploring new collaborations, and potentially entering a new international market. As exciting as this sounds, engaging with the community and staying responsive to customer feedback to ensure the ‘habbot Experience’ is a more meaningful one is still our primary objective, and hopefully will continue to serve us well in terms of customer growth.
