The Day I Designed My Own Sandals at Amanu

 

During the summer after I graduated college, I went to Greece with my family. And one of my favorite memories from the trip was visiting "The Poet Shoemaker" in Athens. This was a famous elderly man who was both a poet and a cobbler, creating gorgeous leather sandals fitted exactly to your feet, while you waited. It was the coolest experience, the sandals were beautiful and fit perfectly, and I still have them. (The quality was and is incredible!) So, when I caught a mention of Amanu, a sandal-making studio in Los Angeles, on my friend Hitha's Instagram, it brought back those custom-sandal memories.

When we headed out on our West Coast road trip this summer, I knew I had to check them out. So one morning in L.A. (I'll write part two of the road trip soon, I promise!), my sister-in-law Kerri and I left our kids with our husbands, and headed off on our own to make some shoes! (Note: I'm pretty sure they accept walk-ins, but we had pre-booked slots online, so there woudn't be a wait.)

Amanu is a small, adorable little shop tucked just off Melrose. You choose from around ten different styles of sandals, two different leather soles (black or nude), and then a large selection of colors, materials, and sizes of straps. I'm super indecisive, so if you go, I'd recommend doing what I did, which was looking at their website and Instagram beforehand. That meant I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted before I got there. 

I had fallen in love with Style 08 almost immediately via Instagram. It has a thin leather strap around your big toe, a second over your foot, and then long suede straps that tie around your ankle. And though there were a million different ways I could have gone in terms of color, I actually didn't take long choosing my those either. I went with nude soles, rose-gold leather for the foot and toe straps, and then tan suede for the ankle ties. (Kerri got Style 09 with tan straps on a black sole.)

Then, comes the really cool part: They measure your feet for a custom fit, and start building your shoes! You're paired with a cobbler or "maker" (mine was Khoi) who creates the shoe right there in front of you, and it all happens right in the middle of the store, hammers, tacks and all. They'll stop occasionally to place it on your foot to test out the fit, but the whole process is surprisingly quick--maybe 30 minutes? 

Once the shoes are completed, and you're totally happy with the fit, they'll place them in one of their cute reusable crochet shopping bags. (They each have a piece of leather stamped with "Amanu," which I learned is actually repurposed scraps from the shoes. Love that. No waste!) 

The shoes certainly aren't cheap (they vary a little depending on the materials used; mine were around $250), but they definitely don't feel cheap either. They are clearly beautifully made with high-quality materials. I love mine, and can't wait to go back. Maybe a black pair next time? ;)

(And because it needs to be said: This is not sponsored and I received no discount on my shoes!)