In everyone’s shoes. Three rules to rock & walk the talk in fashion.

Welcome to fashion, one of the most polluting, impersonal and ruthless businesses on the planet. And, yet we care so much about our gear, because it can change our attitude and the way we are perceived, privately and at work, in the physical and especially the digital arena.

Fashion is so essential and human, but it has become, in the past fifty years, one of the bad actors of the global economy. Twenty years of private equity and venture capital have made fashion fast, cheap, scalable and dangerous. Manufacturing takes place in Asia, most often than not, with supply chain leaders chasing cost efficiencies at all “costs”, indeed, be them people, values, human rights, national laws and the environment.

Can you really please fashionistas and shareholders, and do good to the environment and the communities around your business network? Can you do it now, that the industry is under pressure, in the era of tariffs and slowing demand for big names by new generations. The 2024 Report by Bain and Altagamma, a big-4 consultancy and a fashion & luxury lobby, projects a worrying decline for both luxury and fashion brands globally.

We need to go back to the essence of what we do. It’s time to rethink and innovate. This is why we sit down with Fiorella Erni, co-founder and CEO at Cheetah Stories (the other co-founder is Martin Markovic, CFO), and Mark Schwartz, the Chief Creative Director. Cheetah Stories makes killer stilettos, while putting themselves in everyone’s shoes.

Is that feasible – we were asking ourselves earlier? Yes, it is. Ok, but how? Here are the three rules that made Cheetah stand out and tall in the ocean of high heels.

Rule #1. Distinctive design.  

Nothing new under the sun. Why do you exist, as a brand? Do you have your own handwriting? This is the question that every brand should ask themselves. Any brand needs a signature credo, style, tone of voice, execution, from Armani to Chanel, to name two of the greatest.

“We wanted absolute uniqueness in design. Of course, we need to push the boundaries on materials and capabilities, but the number one imperative is to be unique, distinctive. We are classic, but with a twist, catering to a modern, complex and sophisticated woman”, says Schwartz. “The shoe market is undifferentiated, and, for most silhouettes, you don’t know what brand it is. They all look alike. We are swimming against the tide. Every shoe has to be the right fit for a mood, a moment. Every shoe has a place. Plus, we deliver the maximum level of comfort for a high heel. The personality is the driver, with the max comfort that you can get for sexy or bold. There is no compromise on style and design. And that’s why we have Mark with us, with his ideas, creative hand and vision”, states Erni.

Fashion has always been a fantastic platform for expression, transformation and change. Sacrificing distinctiveness for short term topline success is not a strategy. It should not be the strategy of any fashion brand. “It’s always a negotiation, across the entire supply chain, between idea, capabilities and execution, but we need to deliver a point of view, for every collection”, chimes in Erni.

Dear fashion leader of the future, what’s your message to the world? Schwartz started as a musician and often refers to a collection as if it was an album. A musician delivers a whole flow, a whole performance, uniting the group’s work into a clear, distinctive and hopefully beautiful hymn to humanity. Rule #1: find your own voice, despite and beyond the pressure of the P&L guardians.

Rule #2. Be boring and beautiful on the inside.  

Success is always a matter of details. It’s details on the outside of a shoe. And it is details on the materials being used, suppliers and partners. Welcome to the boring world of supply chain. “What we said, when we founded Cheetah, is that we wanted to be a brand that has values. It’s not just being 100% vegan but building a shoe that respects every single actor and individual along the supply chain. In the long run, this becomes a driver of prestige and uniqueness. Luxury is caring as you move, as you design, as you manufacture. It has been a long journey. We had to find suppliers sharing our values. Claims have to be substantiated with reality and hard work, and we went deep and checked all details behind the scenes. This comes with a cost. We don’t cut corners here. The same thing goes for the way we treat people”, states with pride Erni.

The company was incorporated in February 2023, so it took more than two years to be ready for launch. Everything is made in Italy, from shoe to the packaging. Everything is sustainable and vegan, from leather to glue. Cheetah found the most efficient way to make the stiletto of the future, with exponentially lower footprint of anything China-made. Boring and beautiful is a choice, and a hard one. Rule #2: a distinctive brand voice starts from behind the scenes. Work it, baby. It will pay back.

Rule #3. Twist and shout. It’s marketing time.  

“We worked so hard, that we need to have a distinctive storytelling. We can’t be a vanilla brand. Cheetah wants to be bold and outspoken. For sure, it’s not a shoe for everyone (Chilettos retail for some $700 a pair), but still, we serve absolute quality and design, for the long run. Cheetahs stand tall and elegant. What we want to do with our proposition is to inspire confidence in our woman, so that she can feel good about herself”, confirms Erni.

The go-to-market plan starts in Switzerland and Italy. It will be a progressive build, where brick and mortar stores are going to be as important as DTC. Cheetah is thought for enlightened indies, but also multi-brand stores, where the brand wants to make a statement and show the industry how to be different. From loyalty schemes to digital product passport, from classic marketing outreach to in store shopping, from tech to pack, it’s not just about the kicks, if the experience doesn’t amplify the blues. Rule #3: don’t be afraid to say it, now that you are different.

I know, we said three rules.

I have a bonus item for you. If we are serious about being responsible across the entire supply chain and go-to-market in fashion, what we are doing is actually the creation of a model, a different way of making shoes. We are transforming the industry and showing that a better way does exist.

“Our objective is to change the way people shop and make a difference in their lives, thanks to our quality, philosophy and actions. It would be great if all others changed the way they make shoes. A shoe is very complex. But it’s feasible. You just need to put in the work. Will there be a moment when we commercialize the knowledge that we have, in a sort of white label manufacturing or partnering scheme? Yes, it’s part of our plan”, closes Erni.

Cultural change goes beyond one and each brand. When you give in to shortcuts, you don’t simply hurt your brand but reiterate a model, which will kill the industry and make fashion impossible to redeem. If there is a Rule #4, it’s to look beyond the four walls of a company, at the broader us. Do the right thing, for your fans, for your network, for your competitors and the future. We can save fashion, if we put ourselves in everyone’s shoes. We need more brands like Cheetah Stories.

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