Things We Love Thursday: Poppy Barley
Contributed by Emma Callin
In elementary school when all my friends were getting very tall very quickly, I felt like I was missing out. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly had some growth in the height department (though that isn’t readily apparent considering my adult height of 5’2”-and-a-bit), but my feet were the first to see the effect of a growth spurt – by the time I was ten years old I had bigger feet than my mother yet was still under five feet tall! Wearing a size seven and a half but trying to find shoes that were appropriate for my age and my school uniform was a bit difficult, especially when they needed to be comfortable too. Even after I grew into my feet I found that comfortable shoes were just as elusive, a sentiment shared with men as well as women.
In elementary school when all my friends were getting very tall very quickly, I felt like I was missing out. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly had some growth in the height department (though that isn’t readily apparent considering my adult height of 5’2”-and-a-bit), but my feet were the first to see the effect of a growth spurt – by the time I was ten years old I had bigger feet than my mother yet was still under five feet tall! Wearing a size seven and a half but trying to find shoes that were appropriate for my age and my school uniform was a bit difficult, especially when they needed to be comfortable too. Even after I grew into my feet I found that comfortable shoes were just as elusive, a sentiment shared with men as well as women.
Enter Poppy Barley! I first found them through a friend’s Instagram of a pair of beautiful, sunny yellow flats, something I always have my eye out for since my sister loves flats, and in sunny yellow especially. Unfortunately they were a limited edition pair in what Poppy Barley appropriately called “sunshine confetti” and were sold out before I could even tell my sister about them. Despite this initial disappointment, I was still intrigued by what Poppy Barley offered – beautiful footwear, with a custom fit for comfort.
To facilitate a custom fit, Kendall and Justine Barber – the sisters behind Poppy Barley – hold pop-up shops across Canada where customers can book fitting appointments, have a look at examples of the styles and leathers available for the season, and place an order for a pair of their own Poppy Barleys. We managed to snag a couple moments from the busy Kendall at the latest pop-up in Calgary.
How would you describe your business?
“Poppy Barley fuses new technology with the art of shoemaking to deliver custom-fit, original footwear manufactured with transparency.”
Kendall & Justine Barber
What is the best part about your job?
“Creating and building our own roadmap to transform the footwear industry.”
Seasonal limited editions
Which pairs are your absolute favourite shoes?
“Love my ankle boots - both my Chelsea Ruby Red Boots and Classic Ankle Booties in Blue Jean
Baby. Here are photos of me in the shoes from the Poppy Barley Instagram account: Chelsea Boots and Ankle Boots.”
Demonstrating one of the three additional measurements other than foot length that are taken to custom fit boots.
The women’s line for Fall/Winter 2014
And a peek…
…at the new men’s collection!
Photos courtesy of:
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