Online bespoke women’s shoe designer and manufacturer Shoes of Prey was founded in 2009 by Australian Jodie Fox, in conjunction with Mike Knapp and Michael Fox, in response to a problem she faced finding the perfect pair of shoes.  Following the overwhelming response to the futuristic online shoe design service, Jodie and her team have launched a ground-breaking concept boutique at the flagship David Jones Sydney store on Elizabeth Street.

In a world first, the Shoes of Prey boutique offers a fully-immersive shoe design experience which transports customers into a unique environment that takes the process of finding the perfect pair of shoes to a whole new level.  Created to be as pleasant and indulgent as possible, the Shoes of Prey boutique features a flower sculpture made out of shoes, a unique soundtrack created especially for the store, a bespoke luxury fragrance, and a shoe-inspired decor designed by new retail marketing agency The General Store.

“The store is made almost entirely out of Shoes of Prey materials,” explains Matt Newell, Strategy Partner at The General Store.  “The striking flower sculpture is made from Shoes of Prey shoes, the table is finished with Shoes of Prey's soft faded black leather and the chairs feature a range of materials like stamped patent leather and suede.”

A team of shoe design experts armed with iPads assist each customer with the start-from-scratch shoe design process to ensure that they go away with the ultimate pair of shoes.  With a current range offering more than 4 trillion combinations encompassing 12 base shapes and 170+ materials, there is no shortage of design possibilities.

One of the most unique features of the boutique is the signature soundscape.  The bespoke ambient soundtrack features the sound of heels clicking as well as a primitive feline “purr” as provided by Jodie’s own cat. Personifying the buyer as the hunter of the perfect pair of shoes – the “prey” – the clicking shoes, reminiscent of a hunter on horseback, and the call of the cat, an animal famous for its hunting skills, are both evocative of a hunting scenario.

The original idea for the Shoes of Prey service came from company co-founder Jodie Fox. A self-confessed lover of shoes, Jodie could never find the right combination of fit, style and design – so she did what any shoe obsessed person would do: commission bespoke shoes that met her requirements.  “You can get a tailored shirt or a tailored suit, why not tailored shoes?” Jodie says.  

It was not long after Jodie began having her shoes tailor-made that her envious friends began requesting that Jodie have shoes made for them.  Jodie soon realised that there was a huge market for bespoke women’s with a massive gap that needed to be filled.  The rest, as they say, is history.

“We're excited to partner with such an iconic retailer, celebrating their 175th year of business. It's a huge change for David Jones from the online point of view, and for Shoes of Prey from an offline point of view,” says Jodie. “We cannot wait to bring our shoe experts, leathers, design tools, shoes and customers together to offer an offline way of experiencing what it is to be a shoe designer.”