Luxury shoe brand Kendall Miles takes its first steps into the bridal industry releasing its new bridal-inspired collection: Delicate Desires.
Venturing into the bridal space is an exciting first for the Kendall Miles team. Since 2015, customers have cherished the brand’s luxurious and timeless designs that range from sleek sandals to classy pumps and sneakers.
Made with the finest leathers handcrafted straight from Florence, Italy, the Black-owned and family-run business pairs luxury and high-fashion styles with careful craftsmanship and comfort. The brand also caters to women who require extended sizing, offering shoe sizes 12-14 with wide options in most styles.
At the helm of this visionary brand is Founder and Design Director, Kendall Reynolds.
Born and raised on the Southside of Chicago, Reynolds grew up with incredibly inspiring entrepreneur parents. And like many little girls, her love affair with fashion began when playing dress up in her mother’s clothes.
Growing up my mother was a true shoe girl, and I would play in her shoe closet for hours. I fell in love with the timelessness of Manolo Blahnik and Roger Vivier, and that’s where my love of fashion began.
– Kendall Reynolds | Founder & Design Director of Kendall Miles
Shoe-shopping trips with her mom fueled her burgeoning passion.
At 12 years old, a pair of Cole Haan black patent wedges was the first shoe of her own that Reynolds would cherish and love.
“They were open-toe and had a simple crisscross strap detailing,” she recalls, wistfully. “I loved them because they had a little height on them, they went with everything, and I had so much fun the day my mom and I purchased them.”
Subconsciously, this early shoe style, which Reynolds describes as “simple, yet elevated, and incredibly comfortable,” would later translate into her designs.
In college, Reynolds began exploring her love of fashion from a new lens.
While studying at the University of Southern California, she started thinking about what she wanted to do after graduation. During that period of self-discovery, she learned she had a passion for drawing shoes and footwear designs.
After graduating with a degree in International Relations, Reynolds scoured the internet for opportunities to expand her craft. She found an intensive footwear design program in Milan, Italy, at the world-renowned accessories design university called Ars Sutoria.
She applied and to her surprise, was accepted into the program! Soon she was on a plane bound for Italy. Following an intensive 3-week course, Reynolds returned to The States with newfound knowledge, confidence, and connections.
Later moving to New York City, she continued to build an impressive network in the fashion industry. Two years later, she returned to Los Angeles ready to make her mark in the fashion world.
“After my return to LA I decided I wanted to start my own brand,” she shares. “I began making the necessary steps to do so leveraging my newfound knowledge and connections in Italy.”
In 2015, Kendall Miles was officially in business.
Since starting her company in 2015, Kendall Miles has garnered an immense following.
With over 104k followers on Instagram, the brand’s innovative designs have become a staple for some of Hollywood’s most prestigious celebs. Rihanna, Paris Hilton, Fantasia, and Lupita N’yongo are just a few who have Kendall Miles in their wardrobe.
This year, founder Reynolds was an honoree for the Women Who Rock Class of 2024. This award is given by Footwear News and Fairchild Media Group, a company dedicated to promoting women’s leadership and nurturing future female leaders in the footwear industry.
Kendall Reynolds was one of many leaders recognized for their mentorship and success in the footwear industry. For Reynolds, her company’s success begins with the ethos of her brand today.
As a Black-owned, woman-led luxury brand, we subscribe to the idea that boundaries should be pushed, not met. One of our founding principles at Kendall Miles is that Black women deserve luxury too. We believe in glorifying the importance of being the best, wanting the best, and doing the most.
– Kendall Reynolds | Founder & Design Director of Kendall Miles
With the release of their latest collection, Delicate Desires, Kendall Miles is entering the bridal chat for the first time.
The new collection revamps a Kendall Miles’ classic, the Halo Sandal, in three new colors: crisp white matte, smooth red nappa, and textured black calf. It also introduces the Halo bag. The unique handbag comes in crisp white and red nappa leather with ostrich feathers, all ethically sourced in Italy.
The brand’s first step into bridal has been a long time coming. Reynolds explains, “In the past, we’ve had styles that have worked for brides, but never a branded bridal marketing moment.”
Inspired by the desire to cater to their customer’s needs, Reynolds adds, “This feels like a very genuine and organic evolution for the brand.”
Keep reading below for our exclusive Behind The Brand interview with Kendall Reynolds, Founder & Design Director of luxury footwear brand Kendall Miles.
(Pssst…use MUNALUCHI15 for 15% off your Kendall Miles purchase!).
A note to our readers: This article contains affiliate links. By purchasing items via the links on this page, MunaLuchi may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
*All photos courtesy of Kendall Miles
- Blog series: Behind The Brand
- Featured Designer: Kendall Miles
What makes Kendall Miles unique?
Our flexible DTC start-up positioning allows us to sell ultra-luxury footwear at better prices, upsell customers by enticing them to pay in installments, and offer true sizes 12-14 to include the historically underserved extended-size market. Our designs are also totally original and skew on the more statement side of luxury by really leaning into luxurious embellishments from ostrich feathers to fur to crocodile embossed leather skins.
Tell us about your latest bridal sandals and handbag.
Our bridal sandals and bag both feature soft nappa leather in crisp white. We sourced the crisp white Prada used in Italy and we are obsessed. The sandals feature a removable Swarovski crystal anklet and a double-padded leather insole for total comfort and all-day wear for brides. The bag features crisp white nappa leather, adorned with Ostrich feathers, ethically sourced in Italy, and a magnetic top handle and extended crossbody for easy utility. We also offer a bold red, soft nappa leather, and a textured black leather for those brides that are non-traditional or desire something that stands out for bridesmaids or other wedding festivities.
How have you overcome adversity in your career?
Being a young, luxury brand is very difficult and it’s essential my team and I are able to overcome adversity quickly and with minimal damage to our faith and vision for the future of the business. We overcome adversity by working together as a team and really looking at all the resources we have to bring us through difficult times. It takes getting creative with ideas, utilizing our network, leaning on our community, and tightening up social strategy and operations at times to overcome low periods.
What advice would you give other young designers looking to enter the fashion industry?
It’s not always about the big wins, the little wins matter too. Because the little wins can add up to a big win. So make sure you’re keeping track of all wins and leveraging the small ones to create bigger moments over time.
Why is partnering with brands like MunaLuchi important to you?
We are so excited to partner with MunaLuchi! It’s extremely important to us because of our company mission to partner with high-quality businesses that communicate with multicultural women in an authentic and genuine way. This collaboration also gives us the opportunity to test into the bridal market, which is something that our customers have been asking of us for years. The timing finally feels right and we’re thrilled MuchLuchi is opening the door for us.
Check out Kendall Miles’s latest collection, Delicate Desires, at Kendallmilesdesigns.com
**Use code MUNALUCHI15 for 15% off your purchase!**
A note to our readers: This article contains affiliate links. By purchasing items via the links on this page, MunaLuchi may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you
Looking for more Behind The Brand features?
Click here for more.
Leave a Reply