"If you can survive in times of crises, you can survive anything"

We sat down with Frederikke Antonie Schmidt, founder and creative director of roccamore, to hear more about the challenges of launching her brand of comfortable high heels and how she is dealing with the crises of Corona.

How did you come to pursue an education, and eventual career, in footwear design? What inspired this path? 

When I studied at Polimoda, I was always very inspired by different culture and the trends you find in small societies. I would build collections around a certain flower that a native tribe in Africa considered holy or study all the variations of a butterfly wing to draw patterns from it. I loved the creativeness and the ability to really study something on a geeky level.

When I started working in the industry, I found that I had much less time for the creative process. So, I applied my geekiness to the anatomy of the foot and has spent most of my career try to understand how I can optimized the experience in high heels, how I can shape a foot to walk as anatomically correct as possible, even in heels.

At what point in your career did you decide you were ready to begin your own business? Why do you believe it's a unique addition to the footwear market today?

I wanted to create a comfortable high heel. I was tired of working with male designers and only focusing on the aesthetics. A shoe has to beautiful first, yes, but then it has to be comfortable! I launched my business idea as a crowdfunding project on Kickstarter. And it got 220% funded in 30 days. Then I had to set up a production, so I could make all the shoes, and then it kind of just went from there… I never decided to start a business or make my own label. I was way to humble to believe that would ever work. It sort of just happened, and then I went along with it.

I’m convinced that there is a need for comfortable high heels, and I think I’ve proved it as well. I have managed to triple my business in size, every year since the commercial launch in 2016. Last year only, we sold 10.000 pairs of roccamore shoes. That was amazing!

Why did you choose sustainability as a focus for your business? In what ways do you challenge some of the existing practices within footwear design that are not sustainable?

The idea with roccamore was to not create seasons, just really good shoes that would last. We make most models in limited editions with materials that are left over from some of the big fashion houses. So, we use what is already out there and then make the quantity that is possible. When a shoe is sold out, that’s it, it might come back in a similar tone, but it will never come back completely the same.

The last 6 months, we have also been working with some very interesting biodegradable materials and zero impact materials that we are now testing in the collection with great success.

What's been one (or more) of your proudest moments thus far for Roccamore thus far? Why was it significant?

The first time, we reached a break-even point and tipped over to actually making money, was the biggest for me. I couldn’t believe that not only had I created my dream job, I had also given other people a cool place to be and it was growing. I have a team of 8 full time people and 12 part time and I remember the enormous feeling of relief, when I realized I no longer had to worry about being able to pay them, I could focus on scaling my business.

In general, how do you currently measure success, for yourself and your brand? 

I’m very focused on customer experience and community building. The success of roccamore completely depends on the happiness of our customers and the way they interact with my brand. I spent a lot of time always improving out site, our shops, communication and geeking around all the details of the shopping experience and our customer relations. I see criticism as feedback in disguise, and I listen to everything. I truly believe that without happy customers, we’re nothing.

 
What do you think is the most valuable piece of advice you could give to those today who'd like to pursue a career in shoe design today?

Listen to you customers and take all feedback serious. You might be a very talented designer, but you will never live in the head of your customers. Do not think you know better, be humble and listen to everything they say. Make your first customers feel special, create strong relations with them, make them your first ambassadors and they will stay around for many years.

And finally, how have you learned to navigate challenges within your current career? Specifically, during these unprecedented times of global pandemic, how have you had to shift your work? What message of hope would you offer for the future of the industry? 

Of course! In times of crises, you have to adapt and evolve, if you want to keep your business to stay relevant. We’re testing many new concepts like 45 days full return, home delivery, private shopping events, live streamings etc. and monitoring everything very closely, so we can quickly tweak and adjust. New circumstances are creating a lot of opportunity for business to think new, but also for new business to start up. If you can survive in times of crises, you can survive anything.