Exclusive: Antonia Saint Dunbar on Creating Stylish Heels That Feel Like Sneakers—Comfort for Every Day
Antonia Saint Dunbar, founder of Antonia Saint NY, couldn’t understand why the shoe industry failed to create stylish heels with true comfort—so she designed her own. The result? Heels so soft and supportive, they’ll surpass your wildest expectations.
Antonia Saint Dunbar is no stranger to innovation. Her journey began in 2011 as one of the three co-founders of the groundbreaking leakproof period underwear brand Thinx. A decade later, she stepped into the world of footwear with Antonia Saint NY, determined to revolutionize the way we experience heels.
In an exclusive conversation with Internationista, the stylish entrepreneur shared the inspiration behind her venture into footwear and her mission to create the most comfortable high heels on the market. And trust me, they deliver—I walked five blocks in the Vida Sweetheart heels and felt like I was strolling on a plush mattress the entire time!
Dunbar took us behind the scenes of her brand, from discovering the perfect production partner in Spain to patenting the SoftSurround System, a game-changer for heel comfort. Plus, she gave us a sneak peek into future launches and what sets her brand apart. One thing is clear: Antonia Saint NY is redefining footwear, making life easier—and much more comfortable—for women and heel lovers everywhere.
Note: The video and written interview were edited for length and clarity.
Your journey started with co-creating Thinx and now you are revolutionizing footwear. What inspired you to shift your focus to shoes?
Antonia Saint Dunbar, Founder of Antonia Saint NY
Photo: Courtesy
So what's interesting is that the co-working space that I won for THINX was on the far west side of the city in the Starrett–Lehigh Building. And there was no train, there was no city bike.There was nothing to get me there and it was a 15-minute walk each way. And I had already commuted by train to get there from my home outside of the city. So my shoe collection at the time was probably 100 pairs, but every shoe had a story—one I could wear like maybe two blocks before jumping in a cab and the other one might be beautiful because I loved how it looked in certain dresses, or it made me feel empowered. They were a great silhouette, but man, were they painful.
I also had some comfortable shoes that were ugly. So I was literally down to one pair of classic booties, a black-low heel boot. I just started to think like, there's got to be a better way. My creative wheels started to churn because just like when I designed the underwear, I was like, ‘how can I make a woman shoe better? Where are my pain points?’ And so I started to think, ‘wouldn't it be amazing to envelop the foot in a cushioned pillow everywhere for comfort?’ And so that is how it began. I needed something like this.
With new production partners in Spain, how has that impacted the quality and the craftmanship of your shoes?
It's amazing. I really applaud us for our resiliency because with entrepreneurship, what could be perceived as a failure, you take it as a lesson and you just keep going. I've probably quit this company like 250 times. I'm not kidding. Like it takes a lot from you, but I still believe in it. I was like, ‘I've got to find the right partner.’
A person who was making one of my components, his father was a legend in the shoemaking industry, and he had helped Donald Pliner [a luxury footwear brand], among many others, grow massive in the shoe industry space. He saw what I was trying to do. He saw my shoe and he heard about what I was doing. We set up a call and lo and behold, this man comes out of retirement because he saw what we were trying to do. He shared it with the women in his life, and he was like, ‘what do you think?’ And they're all like, ‘you need to do this.’ And he is my amazing partner in Spain and he got us some great factories. Factories are very closely held. They don't make it accessible.
Shoes are hard and finding the right partner has been a dream come true. We had our very first six styles that launched at the beginning of last year. Now we have a whole suite of amazing pitches coming that are like 90 millimeters and again, super soft with technology. So we're reclaiming all of these silhouettes that are typically problematic and we're making them with a partner that gets the innovation.
We just launched the Vida Heels and we have some more stuff coming like shortly. I’m on a plane from Spain as I speak to you right now.
Many brands prioritize either aesthetic or comfort. Why do you think the industry has been so slow to merge the two together?
Beauty is very seductive. There is form and function finally with what I've done. A lot of times you can see bad design out there in the world of comfort shoes. Historically, once they start to figure out, ‘oh, well, people have foot problems’ or ‘oh, well, people want more comfortable shoes,’ they oftentimes made them look unattractive or bulky. So what is selling and still sells are these aspirational gorgeous shoes, but when you wear them, you give up on them.
These industries have been often dominated by men. Men are designing our shoes, men are designing our underwear—men are designing still a lot of things that for us women that need to function for us as women. So these aspects oftentimes are just overlooked because they're not suffering from it themselves.
Photo: Antonia Saint NY
What advice would you give to someone looking to break into fashion or footwear?
Photo: Courtesy
Footwear is not easy, so it's not for the faint of heart. Make sure you're brave, courageous and resilient. Work on those skills. Have a network of support.The entrepreneurial journey can be very lonely. You might have a huge team, but you're the founder—you're the one making the decisions.You're the one that has to grapple with, ‘I have$100,000 worth of inventory coming in and do I need to send it there or there?’ These are big important decisions that affect the trajectory of your company.
You want to move fast. I find that it’s important to be fully informed with every aspect of information before you make a decision. Sometimes you make a decision on something and you don’t have all the pieces together. Have the right partners and vet them. Hiring people is a challenge. Someone might look good on paper, but when you start to spend time with them and the way they think about your company, you might have things come up where it’s not the direction you want to go in.