Mass production is not part of BED|STÜ’s vocabulary. The California-based leather and footwear company is known for centering its collections on “genuine, unique and imperfect” designs with distinctive and traditional handcrafting processes—traits that smack of Brooklyn’s hipster culture.
In addition to urbanites with an understated rugged style, the brand has attracted the likes of Taylor Swift, Emma Roberts, Jaime King, Brody Jenner and Jesse Metcalfe.
“Each BED|STÜ shoe, boot and bag uses the highest quality leather,” said Tracy Jankowski, BED|STÜ marketing director. “The leathers are hand cut, hand sewn, washed and tumbled for softness and individually finished. We’re working towards becoming 100 percent organic in our process.”
BED|STÜ launched 21 years ago and has since reached a number of milestones, including launching an Italian collection in 1998, a belt line in 2003, opening its own factory in 2004 and its first flagship store in Malibu in 2015. In 2016, the brand launched its own shopping app.
The brand is best known for its Goodyear welt boots with vintage attributes. Jankowski said the men’s Protégé lace up boot and the women’s Manchester tall boot are bestsellers, however the brand has also benefited from the ongoing demand for year-round boots.
“We were traditionally known as a fall brand, where our strength has been boots. As the market looked at us for boots for spring, it had the wonderful effect on our sandal collection,” she explained.
Culling inspiration from Brooklyn’s streets, the brand’s designs combine the borough’s diversity and vintage detailing in each pair of boots and sandals.
“Brooklyn is an inspiration now and will be ongoing,” said Jankowski. “For us, it’s less about a specific area of Brooklyn and more about the eclectic vibe of the borough. There’s a laid back energy and sense of creativity all around, which aligns well with our sense of self as a brand,” she added.