Daily Times

It’s often said that women who design for themselves-and other women with similar instincts-come up with the best products.

Consider Phoebe Philo’s perfect jersey dresses at Celine or Rachel Mansur and Floriana Gavriel’s wait-list-generating bags at Mansur Gavriel. Back in 2010, Georgia Hobart couldn’t find her “perfect” shoe-something soft, lightweight, slim, and gender-neutral-so she started her Australia-based label, Hobes, to fill that gap in her wardrobe. “I had a heated discussion with my then-boyfriend because we were the exact same height, and he didn’t really like it when I wore heels,” she says. “I was complaining that I didn’t have any shoes to wear, and he said, ‘Why don’t you just make some?’” A Google search led her to a fourth-generation boot-maker in Milan, and six years later, she’s built a global business based on a very simple concept. It turns out lots of women share Hobart’s frustrations with the shoe market, “Back then, if you wanted a flat, closed-toe shoe, you basically had to wear sneakers or ballets,” she said. “There wasn’t really anything in between.”

Hobart’s formula for a casual shoe that wasn’t too sporty, too chunky, or too feminine already existed in her closet: When she was 18, she bought a pair of thin-soled suede shoes during a trip through Italy and wore them nonstop, but she was never able to find anything that came close to replacing them. So she designed her classic Boat along similar lines-a deconstructed lace-up with a thin sole and soft, featherweight suede. It’s exactly the kind of shoe you could buy in five colours and wear all summer long, and there are lots of Hobes customers who do just that. It’s like a ballet flat, but a little more boyish, or you could think of it as a more delicate spin on an oxford.

This summer, Hobart is staging a “mini relaunch” with slight tweaks to her original designs, like a slightly thicker sole; a brand-new men’s range; two new women’s styles, including a soft Chelsea boot; several new colors and finishes; a redesigned website; and a continued emphasis on refining and simplifying her shoes.