ELLE FIRST NEW DESIGNERS
SWEET AND LOWDOWN
JESSIE RANDALL AND BRIAN MURPHY ARE JOINING FORCES ON
LOEFFLER RANDALL,A LUXURIOUS NEW LINE OF FLATS AND LOW HEELS
When not collaborating on Loeffler Randall, their debut collection of shoes,
the Brooklyn-based husband and wife duo Jessie Randall, 29, and Brian
Murphy, 33, can be found cruising the aisles at Spag's, an old-fashioned
general store in Worcester, Massachusetts. Randall's hometown tchotchke
shop was even the site of the couple's engagement, in 2000. "I thought he wanted to buy
a blowtorch," she recalls. "But then I saw the ring-from TIffany, not Spag's."
For Randall and Murphy, starting a shoe company was a logical extension of their
relationship. Randall, a graduate of the University of Virginia, was whisked straight from
classes at FIT and Parsons into an assistantship with designer Katayone Adeli in 2001,
then spent three years designing handbags at Banana Republic. Murphy has art-directed
award-winning ad campaigns for MTV, Target, and IBM, among others. The pair has a
reverence for the classical good taste of the past-"but never in a kitschy way," Randall
explains. When they decided to launch their own line, Randall chose shoes as opposed
to clothes or other accessories because of the limited availability of flat and low-heel
styles, which she herself prefers.
"We looked at successful 'couple' brands that we admired, like Kate Spade, and felt that we
hadsomething interestingtoputouttheretoo,"Randallsays."Wewerelivingalifestylethat
we felt wasn't being fully addressed. It's downtown but not street, professional but creative."
Loeffler Randall's understated designs range from cognac-color cowboy boots in buttery
leather to delicate satin ballet flats dressed up with diamantc~ chains. Though the
two are not afraid to experiment with plush raw materials such as stingray and eel skin,
they keep it light with fuss-free lines and a fresh palene of pink, green, and neutrals.
The result is not exactly minirnalism but has a simplicity that's in keeping with the
designers' respective backgrounds. The line will debut next fall, but Murphy has no plans
to quit his day job. He even cast Randall as a model in one of his recent ad campaigns
for IBM. To her embarrassment, the ads proliferated at NYC bus stops last summer.
~ Randall may need to get over her shyness: Their virtuoso collection is bound
to turn heads all over town.
-JENNY FELDMAN
...
Love this line as well, particularly the boots & flats. I clipped the ELLE article ages ago and just came across it again. At the time, you couldn't find these anywhere so I've been really pleased to see them available since 
I have heard they run true to size though.
