Can you travel with only three pairs of shoes? Sarah Flint and investor-mentor Cindy Crawford think so
What’s in Cindy Crawford’s travel bag this holiday season? Her new collaboration with shoe designer Sarah Flint, the limited-edition Jet Set capsule collection, which the duo is touting as the only three pairs of shoes a woman needs to travel the world. And those would be a flat, a sandal and a combat boot.
“I’ve always packed light,” Crawford said during a recent phone interview with The Times. It’s a habit she said she picked up while traveling the world as a model — and it’s one she still practices.
“I never want to check bags because I don’t want to wait for bags,” she said. “And I don’t want to risk my bag getting lost.”
Instead Crawford prefers to pack everything into a carry-on and then hit the road. “Some of my friends call me Mary Poppins,” Crawford said with a laugh. “They’re, like, ‘How did you pull seven outfits out of that carry-on bag?’ I have it down to a science. But one of the tricks is having multitasking shoes.”
Luxury footwear designer Flint describes her traveling self as the yin to Crawford’s yang. “I’m the opposite,” Flint said. “I literally always pack too much — and I pack way too many shoes. So this has been an exercise in learning for me about how I can pack less.”
The collection, which is handcrafted in Italy, features three styles: a high-heeled sandal ($425) offered in three colors (black, red and gold) and two heel heights (85 millimeters and 100 millimeters); a black combat boot ($695) with gold hardware; and a suede skimmer flat ($375) in black, red or taupe). The collection, which launched in early October, is available exclusively online on sarahflint.com.
Crawford isn’t just a collaborative partner; she also happens to be an investor in the brand — and a mentor to its namesake. The women were introduced by Flint’s entrepreneur father. “He accosted her with a look book of my shoes,” joked Flint, who launched the brand in 2013 at age 25 after studying design at Parsons and the Fashion Institute of Technology and pattern-making at Arsutoria in Milan.
“I was sent a pair of Sarah’s shoes by her father,” Crawford said. “He was, like, ‘Will you try my daughter’s shoes?’ And I was kind of, like, ‘Ugh.’ Because if you don’t like them, you don’t know what to say, right? Sarah sent me a pair of flats, and I became obsessed with them. It was the first time I started wearing flats where I felt as good as I did in a heel.
“I’m always excited to meet young women entrepreneurs,” Crawford said about working with Flint. “It’s fun, especially at this point in my career, to be in a position where I can really help. Sarah is doing all of the heavy lifting of designing and going to Italy and checking on the manufacturing and doing all of that, but I can help, at least, get eyes on the product.”
Crawford isn’t the only one traveling the world in Flint’s designs. The Duchess of Sussex and Amal Clooney have both recently been spotted in shoes by Flint.
Crawford insisted she has nothing to do with the duchess’ or Clooney’s love of the brand. “I wish I could take credit,” Crawford said. “Of course, Amal knew about Sarah Flint’s shoes before I did because Amal definitely follows fashion.”
The New York-based shoe designer came to Los Angeles earlier this year for a shopping event at Crawford’s Beverly Hills home, where she had the opportunity to introduce Crawford’s friends to the brand. “It’s incredible to have that kind of validation from someone who’s been in the industry and really seen, and worked with, the best of the best when it comes to designers,” Flint said of her supermodel-investor-mentor.
As for what’s next, Flint said she’ll remain focused on footwear for now. “My dream down the road is to create a lifestyle brand that could branch into many other categories,” Flint said. “Our philosophy ‘style without sacrifice’ really applies to so many things, right?”
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