In Conversation With Jessica Rich – The Shoe Mogul!
Ishita Kamra
Love Shoes? Our Digital Cover Star, Jessica Rich Who Dares To Make Shoes That Spare Nothing When It Comes To Bold Style. She Might Just Have Your Dream Profession!
With setting out to design shoes that empower the wearer, whilst our Digital Cover Star, Jessica Rich, makes sure to use fine craftsmanship synonymous with her signature aesthetic footwear. Not only, she is the powerhouse in the fashion industry, but also best known for the shoe designs under her namesake brand, redefining elegant shoes you can swoon over all day long. Offering that rare blend of fantasy and function, her sandals are captivating with dazzling crystal embellishments and bands that perfectly appears as a walking piece of “Seduction”. From the early days of her eponymous brand to her very latest creations, we took a full tour through her wildest dreams. Dreams that become reality. Want to find out more? Read ahead to know everything about the woman behind the brand.
Hi Jessica, Welcome to L’Officiel, we’d love to know a bit about the beginning of the woman behind the brand. Could you recall one of the first designs you created that instantaneously led to the brand’s rise in stardom?
The style that made me famous was my first design, the fancy stiletto clear pump. It was basically the first real Cinderella slipper that you could actually wear versus watch on television.
According to you, is a shoe designer more like an artisan or an artist, or even like a fashion architect?
For me, I would like to say that I call myself an artist, while many people call me an alien. I have a different way of gathering ideas and putting them into the marketplace.
I don’t really hold back on “sexy,” I want all of my shoes to be a walking piece of “Seduction,” no matter what color they are in they will always stand out amongst other shoes in the marketplace.
Your shoes are quite adored in many regions. Why do you think that is?
Before I opened my brand, I owned and still own a PR company called “Who you know PR,” through which I was building up other brands from the ground.
So, I know the power of social media and the power of influence & celebrities, so I have always made sure to keep it consistent. That is why we have reached so many women all over the world because of our audience and who we are getting the shoes to.
Your brand seems to have had a vision at the time you created it as if it were a premonitory sign. What do you see for the future of the brand?
Honestly, expansion. I want to open one more retail store in New York.
I feel the women are always shopping and they always need something to wear out day & night. From their workplace to the restaurant to the martini bar.
I’m also expanding my line to different categories; I don’t want to tell too much right now but many things are coming up.
I’m also looking to sell my company and stick to just being the head of design and creative marketing. I’ve worked really hard and feel it’s the perfect opportunity for someone to just come in and take over and run it for me.
I’ve already done all the groundwork, so the hardest part is over.
Which famous person do you get a thrill from when you see them wearing Jessica Rich?
I’m honestly obsessed with every celebrity who has ever worn my product, no matter how big or small they were. They all have impacted my brand in various ways.
If you could spend a day in someone else’s shoes, who would you choose?
TOM FORD
I’m literally dying to meet him, and I look up to him in so many ways because he is an American designer who got really far with his career which is not normal with American designers most of the time. Instead, you’re not even considered a real designer unless you’re from overseas which is not really fair. So, I had to make sure to consistently push the envelope here in the States to be recognized as a real designer. And he did that so well, and he just sold his company for billions and I would love to have a similar story. He clearly left his imprint on the marketplace that can never be erased for generations to come.
Talking to a shoe designer, are you a heels or flats kind of girl?
I’ve been wearing heels since high school; I got best dressed because I never wore sneakers for 4 years to school.
I will always be a heels girl; I have heard from so many people now in the marketplace complaining about heel heights and the need for shorter heels. But I still feel that a woman should carry a sense of confidence when they enter a room and that just can’t happen in a short-block heels or flats, in my opinion.
Nowadays, we are programmed to give up on being glam and become plainer & more comfortable. But I have grown to like sneakers and I’ve only learned to love them for days going to yoga & heading to the gym and maybe an occasional grocery run but that’s about it.
Spill some deets about what can we expect to see from your upcoming collection.
I am introducing lower heel heights for the women that have been asking about them. I do listen to my customers so I am gradually opening it up to a small percentage of my customer base who requested it. So, I’m excited to introduce that this fall of 2023 & intrigued to see what the reaction will be.
With having a brand of your own and making a name in the industry, what do you think you still have left to achieve?
I feel extremely blessed, looking at how far I have come in a very short amount of time, but I do want to do more retail expansion overseas and more celebrity collaborations.
We are delighted to have you on board, and so are our readers what message do you have for the people who aspire to become like you?
If you have a dream, go after it no matter how hard or impossible it may be. Because just when I thought I could not get a single person to buy a pair of shoes. Fast forward, now I’ve sold thousands of shoes and have earned millions of dollars so anything is possible!
