The age of hype beast is real, you can not get your hands on half of the hottest releases unless you are willing to pay a pretty penny or you have someone willing to spend endless hours searching for you. It's hard to imagine a time when you could just walk into a store and pay retail for a sneaker. Brittany Williams or IamBWill the soul behind the brand SoleSense wears many hats. Although SoleSense started off sourcing women's sneakers, she has found a way to take her love for sneakers and expand into consulting, personal shopping, curating sneaker releases, merchandising, and styling.
You’ve been a stylist for a while, when did you decide you wanted to start Sole Sense?
SoleSense was a passion project before I got into styling. I’ve always been a sneaker girl so collecting them for myself or even connecting the dots for others has always been a thing. I left Nike, was published a few times, attended & worked NYFW, and did a cover shoot with Luka Sabbat & Barbie Ferreira all within 2 - 3 years, so SS was always an idea.
Your brand originally started out as a sneaker concierge, now you have moved into personal shopping for the most sought-after luxury items. Was it hard for others to see your vision in the beginning?
100%. From both aspects of being strictly e-commerce & only women’s to authenticity of the merchandise. I recall attending streetwear panels and pitching SS to credible people in the industry and the shock reactions of “all women’s sneakers? Nobody is going to go for that.” February makes year 4 and it’s been the best year by far. With the sneaker & luxury goods industry fakes are a given; trust I’ve seen plenty of good ones. When it comes to authenticity, it’s simply just sliding my credentials across the table. I’ve either worked with the brand's hands-on or I have direct communication with the brands or stores I’m sourcing from.
Has Covid forced you to change the way you do business and if so how?
Definitely and it has all been positive. Repetition can quickly make you become content if things are continuously going smoothly. Before Covid SS, physical inventory was on the back burner with personal shopping services being the focus. Living in NYC made the personal shopping experience more exclusive since I had access. Once the stores closed and everyone started shopping online, the in-hand advantage no longer existed. Ironically SS started to receive a spike in online hits. No physical product had been on the site for over 6 months, but views were going up; so I went back to the drawing board. Covid ultimately forced me to sit down and figure out how to balance both personal shopping and inventory aspects of the business as separate entities.
One thing about women is when we see something we want we will stop at nothing to find it. Even if it meant searching for hours. Has there ever been a shoe you haven't been able to get your hands on?
For customers that happens every now and again. The athletic brand releases over 3-5 years old and designer releases over 2 - 3 seasons old are usually harder to find. With hype releases, it really depends on how much they’re willing to pay vs it not being available at all. For myself, I can’t find the OG Melo 5.5 or the red & white CB34 in new condition to save my life. I tweet Nike and Jordan brand at least once a month asking for a rerelease lol.
Although most of this year was spent in quarantine, what in your opinion was the most overrated and underrated sneaker this year?
Overrated would be the Dunk's hands down. Not because it’s a bad shoe but because for years they ended up on sale and nobody cared. Only the skaters and OG’s were really buying SB’s. Now they’re flipping for $500 +. Underrated would be the Nike Daybreak & New Balance 327. The first wave of the 327’s was a hit. Their collab with Casablanca and the few releases that followed did well. After a while, I started catching them sitting on shelves everywhere in all sizes. As for the Daybreaks, we’ve stocked 3 pairs and they’ve all sold out with several restocks. The first 2 pairs kind of last. The day we finally sold out, one of our Topaz Daybreak posts went viral. We dropped the Rust one shortly after and they sold out in 2 hours. The low cut/ankle look is in. We’ll see how it translates in the cooler seasons, but as of now the Daybreaks are still highly requested.
What are five items every woman should have in their closet?
White button-down shirt, denim jacket, a boyfriend t-shirt, black jeans, and hoop earrings. Each item can be a staple piece for any look you want to pull off. Talk about range.
Starting a new business is very stressful, what has been your biggest challenge so far?
Gaining trust and standing my ground. Buying sneakers online from an unidentifiable source or unknown small brand is always a high scam risk. Even on the vendor side. Before they entertain the idea of giving you a wholesale account, they want to know what else you sell and what are the numbers. Proving we do good business on both ends was a huge challenge starting out. There’s no room for long shipping windows for the consumer or overdue invoices for the vendor. Reiterating the women’s only vision still has challenges. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been told “You should sell men’s. It’ll be more lucrative” I would be Oprah rich.
Do you have any advice for entrepreneurs who have an idea, but not sure where to start?
There’s no such thing as too much research. Research Everything! Every aspect of what your business entails and or consists of. We see the “Just start it” tagline all the time but if you don’t know your product and who you’re selling it to, you’re headed nowhere fast.
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