There's no doubt that Marina Larroudé has influenced a fashion choice of yours. Whether during her time at Style.com, Teen Vogue, Barney's, Schutz, or even her long time gig as iconic Fashion Week Street Style Star, the Fashion Director's love of discovering new, exciting, innovative brands has been coloring the market for nearly two decades.

Now, Marina's ready to step into the spotlight with a new, exciting, innovative brand all her own. Larroudé is the one-stop-shop for shoes that both spark joy and fill a crucial role in your wardrobe. Not to mention they're designed to reward you for sharing!

Curious? You should be...

By Christie Grimm

How long have you been thinking about starting something of your own?
I always dreamed of starting something of my own, but first wanted to learn from the experts. It was a dream to work at places like Conde Nast and Barneys and I am so grateful for all I was able to learn through these experiences. I feel very fortunate to have worked with so many incredible individuals and to have built a strong network of talented people. 

So much changed with the pandemic and all of a sudden, a lot of talented people were out of jobs, so I said to myself, this is the time to start something. This is how Larroudé was born, with the idea of prosperity, of better days, and with a sense of community. 

What have been the biggest challenges of launching a brand during the pandemic?
Creating a company where EVERYONE is working remotely is challenging for sure. There are no live group meetings and everything is on the phone or Zoom. The majority of our external meetings were also done on Zoom. In order to showcase the quality of our products, we had to get creative with videos and photography. 

The effort to make it work from the entire team has been tremendous. The day of our launch, we were all awake at 5am on a Zoom call, turning the site live, waiting for the Vogue article to come out at 6am. It was a memorable experience. 

Our kids saw their parents build a company from the ground up during a lockdown and I hope it has taught them to move forward when they face challenges and always chase their dreams. 

How did you come up with your brilliant QR code concept?
That was all my husband Ricardo! One night at the dinner table our 11 year old Gloria, suggested that we add QR codes to our business cards. Over the next few days Ricardo kept thinking about the QR code. He thought that if everyone is using it to read menus at restaurants, then how can we use it in our products? From there he came up with the idea of having a unique code for each shoe that clients could share to earn rewards towards their future purchases and the rest is history! 

Now everyone that buys our shoes can claim their QR code and earn $5 right away. From there they can share with friends (via their phone or the shoe directly) and if the friend buys it, they will earn $10 plus the friend will get a $15 discount on their purchase. It’s an incredible way to drive sales and build a community.

How would you describe Larroudé's style?
It’s fashion for real life. Fashion brings us joy, and we want to bring that to our clients too. Chic flats for school drop offs, classic sandals that will last you a lifetime, your go to pumps, sexy boots and some whimsical prints to spice things up! 

The entire collection was made with women in and their needs in mind. Larroudé shoes are designed to be worn from day to night and to every event in between!

What's your go-to, everyday outfit?
Lately it has been CQY Palme jeans, a sweater or sweatshirt and the Lee flats.

How big is your own personal shoe collection?
It's big, but I don’t like to hoard things. I clean my closet every other week. 

I’m shoe sample size, so I have the entire collection of Larroudé! 

In order to have space for it in my closet, I sold the majority of my old shoe collection at The Real Real. 

What three pairs of shoes does every woman need in their closet?
This question is the reason behind our brand! 

The Lee ballet flats, the Nyx single strap sandal, the Elle pump and the Kate boot. 

Four shoes and you are done!

If you had to choose: flats or heels?
Heels!

How have you been expressing your style while staying at home?
It's been a long year! For me, it's choosing to wear happy clothes and having my hair done once a week. My Nap Dress has been handy! And any time I go out, I dress up. The other day I was so dressed up for dinner, that a waitress came to me and said, 'Thanks for dressing up!'

What outfit are you dying to have an excuse to wear again?
I have a long red Alaia dress with a heart on the waist… It’s my favorite piece. I can’t wait to wear it again.

What are you most excited for next?
I cannot wait to dress lots and lots of women in Larroudé.

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A post shared by Marina Larroude (@marinalarroude)

 As seen in Guest of a Guest.