An Exclusive with Dolly Singh, Founder And CEO Of Thesis Couture, The Company That Has Revolutionized The Sexy In Stiletto
By Suzanne Dooley
A sexy stiletto heel that doesn’t hurt? Yes, it’s true, according to Thesis Couture. This slinky stiletto, designed by a team of futuristic designers, artisans, astronauts, and technologists, is anticipated to dance its way into your closet and shoe-shame your collection of Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choos for not being as comfy. Thesis Couture has brought fashion and technology together to create a seductive stiletto that reveals sexy-sultry in an unprecedented way: sexy-comfortable.
Stepping It Up In Heels
According to a survey by the American Podiatric Medical Association, the leading professional organization in the U.S. for today’s podiatrists, almost 49% of women wear high heels with 71% complaining that these heels hurt their feet. APMA’s findings also confirm that on average -despite the foot pain- each of these women own 9 pairs of heels, with half of them preferring to wear 3-inch heels or higher. Women grin and bear chronic shoe pain for the sake of style and to look more attractive.
Certain luxury, high-fashion websites, such as Jimmy Choo and Gucci, consider a “low heel” to be less than 2.5 inches; heels between 2.5 and 3.5 inches to be “mid heels”; and any heel over 3.5 inches to be a “high heel.” No matter the number of inches underfoot, all of these heels have two features in common: foot pain and foot injuries. The higher the heel or skinnier the stiletto, the sooner our feet ache and a higher probability exists that we may actually topple over — even the most adept heel wearers have endured the dreaded, high-heel catastrophe: face-planting in public. Think Lady Gaga or Jennifer Lawrence here to name but two. In addition, according to most podiatrists, the regular wearing of such heels, causes a wide range of health problems: from bunions and ingrown toenails to nerve and tendon damage. “[Traditional] high heels put the foot at an angle and pull muscles and joints out of alignment, so the effects aren’t limited to the feet,” explains Dr. Surve, an associate professor at the UNT Health Science Center – Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. “It’s not unusual for people who spend lots of time in high heels to have low back, neck and shoulder pain because the shoes disrupt the natural form of the body.”
Thesis Couture Prototype
So, it is not surprising that prior to the end of any stiletto-wearing evening, we ladies have either slipped off our heels because our aching feet can no longer take the foot-stabbing pain or we remain seated to ease the foot-throbbing brought on by our 4-inch heels. But it’s the 21st century, what about a woman’s right to a comfortable, sexy stiletto?
Ms. Dolly Singh, Founder and CEO of Thesis Couture, asked herself this question. Initially, Singh was like most women and accepted her painful heel predicament for a number of years: working in heels for hours on end as an executive at SpaceX, until she finally decided to take charge and resolve this neanderthal problem. “While head of talent at SpaceX, I wore heels every day. I started to dread taking recruits on tours of SpaceX’s 550,000 square foot rocket factory,” explains Singh. “Once you hit 30, your body changes. I had liked high heels since I was 17 but was starting to despise them. So the choice became make them better or let them go, and I chose the former.” Singh believes that beauty should not be synonymous with pain. And what woman would disagree? With Thesis Couture’s high-tech stiletto, the sole-aching, foot-throbbing and toe-crunching impediments of the modern day woman have hopefully been resolved.
Dolly Singh, Founder and CEO of Thesis Couture.
Fast Fun Facts: Dolly Singh, Founder and CEO of Thesis Couture
What was the best career advice you were ever given?: Always question the status quo
How would you describe your experience in a tweet (with hashtags)?: #BlazeTrails #stepforward
What gets you in a creative mood?: Music
Favorite Designer: Karl Lagerfeld
Favorite Scientist: Margaret Hamilton
Food: French Fries
Thesis Couture
From Daggers To Polymers
The word “stiletto” is an Italian word that actually means a knife or dagger with a long slender blade. And so it’s not surprising that “when you rip apart a [stiletto] heel, inside is a metal strut – it’s actually called a shank and looks like a knife, like you could stab someone with it,” explains Singh. At this point, are we not thinking: Hey, it’s not rocket science that a comfortable and sexy stiletto is needed. But, in actuality, it did take a rocket scientist, accompanied by an astronaut and orthopedic surgeon, to name but a few, to form the Thesis Couture team and invent a sexy stiletto that has become “the most significant innovation in fashion footwear in nearly a century.”
Instead of a metal shank, the Thesis Couture shoe collection integrates substances made of what Singh describes as “a ballistic grade polymer material” and black thermoplastic polyurethane (similar to what car tires are made of) that serve to cushion the foot, as well as minimize impact shock and fatigue. By reformulating the base of the sole -the part of the shoe structure that provides for arch support and where the ball of the foot rests, Singh and her team were able to design a heel that redistributes a woman’s weight away from the ball of her foot and toward her heel. “What we’re fundamentally trying to do,” Singh describes, “is make a stiletto that feels like a wedge.” As such, Singh and her shoe team have created a 3D design blueprint (similar to one used by mechanical engineers and architects) to alter the heel’s geometry in order to create their own customized prototypes, that also happen to serve as inspired, high-heel structures from an engineering standpoint.
Thesis Couture High Heel.
“Building the best high heel in history isn’t easy,” said Singh. “To make a prototype you need to know how you want to make a mold and what materials you need, but you can’t know how to make a better mold or use better materials until you have a prototype that informs the changes. It’s sort of [a] chicken and egg problem.” According to Singh, Thesis Couture has solved that chicken-and-egg problem and “has created some beautiful prototypes that feel amazing.”
Thesis Couture Rocket Scientist Stilettos.
According to Thesis Couture, they have delivered a stiletto that has “[s]leek, sophisticated curves on the outside, [and] cutting edge technology on the inside . . . [a high heel where] high fashion meets high performance.” The single philosophy that runs throughout the Thesis Couture shoe collection is “uncompromising style that’s better for your body” and their main goal is to “empower and inspire through intelligent design . . . . [and] to decouple beauty and pain, and show just how sexy smart can be.” What is the potential impact of this high-tech stiletto? Fabulous feet and a healthy posture; looking sultry sexy while being comfortable; and perhaps even more. According to Marilyn Monroe: “Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.”
Shoe Time Is Now
And anticipation mounts for this long overdue stiletto. “A limited debut design, the ‘Olympus One’ is one design that will be released this fall via pre-reservation only,” said Singh. This limited edition will consist of 1,500 stilettos and each pair will be numbered. Also, reservations for the debut design will open the end of this summer, with deliveries anticipated to take place this upcoming winter and next spring. According to Singh, “the debut design will consist of three looks: a day look, evening look and a red carpet look to debut in Spring 2017.” The cost for this high-tech stiletto is $925 per pair.
Thus far, over 11,000 consumers have signed up via Thesis Couture‘s website to be notified when the debut design goes live and over 2,500 have pre-registered to place orders. Thesis Couture‘s lookbook displays a stiletto collection with shoe aesthetics inspired by female icons such as: Billie Holiday (reflected by a soft-petaled pink stiletto that echoes sultry jazz); Maya Angelou (portrayed by a black and purple strapped, gilded stiletto that is poetry to the foot); and Princess Diana (honored by a soft, angelic blue stiletto with gemstones made for a princess), to name but a few. To have haute couture stilettos, inspired by female pioneers, which are soothing to the female foot? Bring them on Thesis Couture!
According to a new report by Allied Market Research, the global footwear market is estimated to garner revenue over $370 billion by 2020. With such a prodigious number anticipated, women should not settle for anything less than a high heel that provides both comfort and haute couture style. As Singh said, “[S]marter solutions are possible. There is nothing fundamental about the physics that make it impossible to make a better high heel. We have the technology. We have all this capability, and it’s Thesis Couture who is now applying that technology to fashionable heels.”
Dolly Singh, Founder and CEO of Thesis Couture.
More Fast Fun Facts: Dolly Singh, Founder and CEO of Thesis Couture
Hotel: Langham Chicago; Donovan House DC
Book: The Tipping Point
Secret Vice: Chocolate- lots of it
Haute Spot(s): SoHo House NY, W Hotel LA
Don’t Leave Home Without: Shades
Role Models: My Mom and any one of our 21 Legendary Ladies (See Thesis Couture’s lookbook)
For the lookbook and to request these stilettos by Thesis Couture, you can go here.
-SD
