The brand

For a long time I lived a double life working full-time in a production company by day and teaching Swing dance by night. In September 2016 I decided to quit my day job to start my own shoe brand, Swivells.

To begin my adventure I flew to Portugal; the country of leather shoes, to search for raw materials and a passionate shoemaker.

My experience as a swing dancer inspired this change in life.To dance you need leather shoes which are easily found but are expensive and not designed for optimum comfort. My partner Christophe and I realised that with these shoes we had to choose between comfort and beauty. Two toned shoes, a timeless classic and vintage icon, were also missing. Why must we compromise comfort to look good? Why can’t we have both? Perhaps combine them both in two tone shoes?.

We decided to live these adventures together: dance and Swivells.

Swivells was created in 2017 at the heart of Batignolles, in Paris. In this old parisian neighborhood the leathers are studied, the data sheets are made, and the shoes are designed. The rest happens near Porto, Portugal, in a family workshop.

The shoes are made with patience and precision with emphasis on both comfort and style.

For comfort, we choose our stiffeners carefully (thin and short so the heels aren’t supported by a rigid material), our inner soles (thick and quilted), our leathers (soft, to adapt to our feet) and outer soles (in leather, to fit perfectly when walking).

For style, we try to design shoes that challenge our usual way of dressing. Most of the time we choose our clothes carefully before deciding and at the very end of the process which pair of shoes will fit our outfit better. Swivells enables us to change this by offering shoes that don’t go unnoticed. Don’t be afraid to wear shoes that stand out and choose your outfit depending on which Swivells shoes you put on!