RESPOKE

Respoke began as a love affair. Nothing scandalous or naughty, just a simple love affair with a shoe which, like so many things Spanish, seemed a perfect marriage of style and function — the espadrille. Having achieved a level of success as a reseller of all things Hermès (a rather unusual career that is detailed in his memoir Bringing Home the Birkin), co-founder Michael Tonello began his quest for the ultimate espadrille.

Inspired by years of designer scarf collecting, he came up with the idea to repurpose his iconic scarves into beautiful espadrilles. With this in mind, he managed to find the very best team of multigenerational craftspeople in Spain, also known as the birthplace of espadrilles. Respoke was born. ¡Y ahí está!

The initial launch was very well received because people learned that every pair is handcrafted and every pair is one-of-a-kind. The positive response to the classic espadrilles led cofounder, Chris Bartick, their team, and Michael to develop additional product categories that could be “respoked” with iconic designer silk.