Navigating through the mesmerizing yet challenging journey of pregnancy and early parenthood brings forth a unique set of demands for every woman. From the nuanced shifts in the physical form to the fluttering waves of emotional tides, expecting and new mothers invariably seek a blend of comfort and style that respects and responds to their changing needs. Our friends at FRANKIE4 offer a paradigm of wellness embedded in footwear and orchestrate an exquisite symphony of comfort, style, and health precisely curated for the ebbs and flows of motherhood.
Here, we explore the diligent craftsmanship, intentional design, and soulful ethics that fashion their footwear. Whether it’s prioritizing the well-being of your feet during pregnancy, ensuring style does not relinquish comfort, or intertwining sustainability with self-care, FRANKIE4 carves a distinctive path in catering to the holistic needs of women during this pivotal life chapter.
Frankie4 is known for taking wellness to the next level in footwear. Can you explain the role that comfort plays in overall well-being, especially for expecting and new moms?”
During pregnancy, in particular, your feet will change, and the importance of supporting your body through each day is vital to keeping moving without the impact of foot pain, through pregnancy changes and beyond.
Our footbed is adjustable in most of our enclosed styles, including sneakers and boots, and it is built into our slides and sandals. Unique to FRANKIE4 is our Sole Saver Pack. This genius pack means women can enjoy the same pair of sneakers, or their beautiful boots pre-, during, and post-pregnancy regardless of what your feet decide to do. Whether you have wide, narrow, or regular-width feet, or maybe you’ll experience swelling, you can adjust the footbeds to suit your needs. Each pack comes with two full-length footbeds, two half-footbeds, and two forefoot cushions. It’s simple to use, but is truly game-changing because no two feet are the same, so why should your shoes be?
Many women sacrifice comfort for style when it comes to shoes. How does Frankie4 manage to combine both without compromising either?
It’s what’s on the inside that truly counts, but achieving that isn’t as straightforward as just adding a supportive footbed to any shoe. At FRANKIE4, we take a comprehensive approach to shoe design, meticulously crafting every single component from the ground up – be it the soles, uppers, laces, footbeds, zip pulls, or buckles. It might not be the easiest route to creating footwear, but for us, it’s the only path to deliver the quality our customers anticipate and deserve.
Our design team, composed of fashion experts, ensures that our styles remain in sync with the latest trends and runway inspirations. They are closely supported by our technical team, which dedicates months to testing our shoes on several women to guarantee they offer comfort without slipping, rubbing, squeezing, or causing undue pressure on the feet. Our performance and comfort standards are exceptionally high, and no pair makes it to the production line unless we are absolutely certain they meet these criteria.
Sometimes, our technical designers need to decline a style because it simply won’t work, but we have an extraordinary team that continually pushes boundaries and seems to work magic with each passing season. Our goal is for women to love their shoes, making them their daily go-to choice.
Could you delve into the podiatrist-designed support in your shoes? How do these features contribute to the ‘game-changing comfort’ that Frankie4 promises?
Our favorite topic – game-changing comfort. As mentioned above, it all began with our Sole Hero Footbed. Now in our 13th year selling FRANKIE4 to women around the world, and nearly 100,000+ 5-star reviews on our styles, our footbed has remained unchanged throughout and is what gives women the ‘ahhh feeling’ when they put on a pair.
Heel support, which lifts, cradles and cushions the heel to help prevent heel pain. Arch support that works to facilitate better foot and lower limb alignment. And forefoot support that aims to reduce or avoid painful pressure points under the foot. It’s this perfect mix of features, to the millimetre, that our founders worked on to ensure this technology is enjoyed by all women who wear our shoes.
As people increasingly focus on self-care, how is Frankie4 aligning its products to cater to the holistic needs of its customers?
It can be easy to think about self-care as luxuriating in the occasional bubble bath, or buying yourself that delicious, flaky croissant with your Friday morning coffee. But self-care should be a continuous investment we make in ourselves, so that we can better take care of others – whether that’s family, friends, or our community at large. All our styles are an investment in your lower limb alignment, meaning you can step out (or in!) knowing your shoes are supporting your everyday health. Self-care practices can be the most powerful when they support your wellbeing in the long run, not just for a day or two.
Although all our styles on offer – from sneakers, to boots, to flats – provide you with that signature FRANKIE4 feeling, we’re excited to soon introduce our range of slippers to our US collection. Stay tuned for their release late Fall… and get ready for responsibly sourced Shearling, soft suede leathers, and our Sole Hero Footbeds for the ultimate in-home coziness.
Frankie4 is also committed to sustainability. How does this ethos of ‘doing better by our planet’ fit into the broader narrative of wellness and self-care?
We feel it’s important to note that the fashion industry thrives on consumption and newness. For this reason, we don’t call ourselves a ‘sustainable brand’ – instead, we engage in responsible practices. Our goal is to create products that live at the intersection of both human and planetary health, which are so uniquely intertwined. When we take care for our planet, we are also engaging in care for ourselves, and our future generations inheriting the consequences of our choices today.
With this in mind – you shouldn’t have to choose between style, comfort, and responsible making when it comes to the shoes on your feet. Responsible practices are key to our product design process – from the materials we use, through to the makers that bring our FRANKIE4 dream to life through every pair crafted. For example, we incorporate rPET lining across the range (made from post-consumer waste plastic bottles), use leathers from Leather Working Group (LWG) Gold and Silver Rated tanneries, and have eliminated single use plastics for styles produced from March 2023 onwards. We also have a close working relationship with our suppliers, who are audited by Sedex each year – one of the world’s leading ethical trade organisations. Our makers are also paid above living wage in Vietnam, making our next-level designs and unparalleled comfort a reality for women seeking wellness around the world.
