Nevada historical shoe company on growth fast track

Published on Fri, Aug 15, 2014 (1:02 p.m.)

Submitted by American Duchess

A Hollywood celebrity’s multiple product endorsements this summer is the latest feather in the cap of a Reno, Nevada start up business already recognized by Northern Nevada business leaders.

Whoopi Goldberg has worn five different pairs of American Duchess 18th Century style shoes on several episodes of ABC’s The View this summer and bragged about them on her Facebook page soon after each show (most recently on the July 17th episode). Goldberg had also appeared on NBC’s Seth Myers Show wearing a pair of American Duchess shoes.

“We're a tiny, very specialized company, and having our designs put in front of literally millions of people really helps us grow. It brings more interest and custom for what we're doing, so we can keep making these really wonderful, old-fashioned styles,” explained owner and company founder Lauren Stowell. “They're not for everyone, but getting that kind of visibility especially raises our profile within the entertainment world, which helps us win more of those kind of clients.”

American Duchess. Inc. is a small, independent design house specializing in the creation of women’s historical reproduction footwear and accessories. Since launching its first product in April 2011, American Duchess has grown from a 100 percent crowd funded company with a single design to a lifestyle brand offering over 25 styles of antique shoes from the 16th century to the 1930s.

Stowell began American Duchess in 2009 as a blog for her historical costuming hobby. By late 2010, Lauren’s frustration with finding pretty shoes to match her fanciful creations grew into the idea of creating a well-designed, versatile shoe for the 18th century, and offering it to other costumers in the online community. Polling her readership to gauge interest and guide the design, Lauren sourced a factory and developed a prototype, “Georgiana,” a dyeable satin 18th century pump with a delicate shape and elegant French heel.

Launching the “Georgiana” for pre-orders in April 2011, the design sold 230 pairs overnight, surpassing the 3-week funding goal by 330 percent in 24 hours. “Georgiana” went into production, followed by more designs--`each developed according to the needs of the historical costuming community.

Today, American Duchess supplies unique footwear to the opera and theater industry, film and television productions, living history museums, and historical costuming hobbyists and reenactors. The Reno designer's unique line of footwear is a favorite of the New York Metropolitan, San Francisco and Los Angeles Operas and can be seen in several Broadway productions. The company’s shoes are featured in living history museums such as Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown as well as on television in the hit shows, "Turn," (AMC) "Black Sails," (Starz) and "The Knick." (Cinemax).
One of the missions of American Duchess is to invest in the community to provide historically accurate footwear at a nominal cost and greater comfort.

“Signature" shoes are styles developed in collaboration with an artisan, designer or historical site and American Duchess. The artist, designer or historical site receives a portion of the sale of each style, so they are supported in their craft (essentially a royalty), and their name, or the name of the historical site is on the shoe. American Duchess has developed this type of partnership with San Jose artisan Francis Classe (a craftsman of highly researched, bespoke, reproduction Renaissance footwear) to create the historically accurate 16th century shoe called "Stratford.”

Although this is her first startup, Stowell’s success has been recognized by the local business community. She is the recipient of the “Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year” Award by the Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology/Reno Gazette-Journal and the Reno Accelerator Fund for 2014. The Reno Accelerator Fund loan American Duchess received allowed the company to change its revenue model from pre-payment of orders to regular stock, allowing it to pursue large corporate clients.

American Duchess Projections:
• By Fall 2014 American Duchess will offer 35 different styles/colors of historical shoes and a broad line of accessories.
• In the past two years American Duchess grew 444 percent.
• In 2014, American Duchess is projected to grow by 70 percent.
• American Duchess hired three employees in 2014.
• Twenty-eight percent of sales are international