Shoe Designer Kathryn Amberleigh is Opening a Los Angeles Outpost Soon, But You Can Shop Her Plentiful Designs Now

6:00 PM, March 28 2012

By Fawnia Soo Hoo

It almost goes without saying: We love shoes. And while we die for drool-worthy high-end designer heels, we’re always on the lookout for budget-friendly (but still top-notch quality) options, too. That’s why we love us some Kathryn Amberleigh. (Case in point: last Thursday’s Deal of the Day. Oh, and if you haven’t heard of Lucky’s 24-hour, 50-percent-off flash sale, you really should sign up for the daily newsletter. Hint, hint.)

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of dropping into Kathryn Amberleigh’s slip of a Nolita shop, you would have been happily overwhelmed by the sheer number and variety of thoughtfully designed and well-made shoes packing the shelves. Platforms, single-soled stilettos, flats, boots, luxurious textures, bold color-blocking, metallics, exotic skins—we could keep going. And then when you turn the pretty heels over to discover the reasonable price tags (real snakeskin heels for $285!), another wave of retail euphoria washes over you.

So how do designer Kathryn Kim and her co-owner/husband Howard manage to create and offer such a ridiculous number of styles all at one time? Turns out, they own their own factory. Easy solution if you can swing it. So on top of having complete control over the craftsmanship and quality on the back end, this means more choice and lower prices for customers, because they can create smaller batches of each style. So small, in fact, that if your size isn’t available in-store (or online), they can whip up a pair for you.

What's more, the duo is heading west to open up a Santa Monica shop in April, so Los Angeles shoe fiends can get their footwear fix over there. But no matter where you live, as long as you have an internet connection and a credit card, you can shop the Kathryn Amberleigh online offerings. And we took the liberty of picking out a few to get you started.

Click through the slideshow below to view the shoe porn: