Thaqafah Shoes

Where it all began and the inspiration behind the brand

How it all started with Head Start Shoes

As the designer of Thaqafah shoes I have never gone to any formal design school to develop my skill in footwear, however my love of shoes and sense of style was created long before I started the brand.

It all began when I was  a young teenage girl at the age of about 13 years old in the mid 90’s and my mother gave me about $300 to go and buy myself  a few pairs of shoes from this high end boutique in center city located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania my home town.

My mother already owned many pairs of shoes from this boutique, in fact anyone who was anybody in the city of Philadelphia and known as sharp dressers regularly bought shoes from this shoe shop because that is how often they sold out and restocked new shoe inventory. The place was a addictive due to all of the beautiful and varying styles and colours of footwear they had.

Back to my mother giving me $300 at 13 to buy shoes. I know what you’re thinking , who gives a thirteen year old $300 for shoes but i was really mature for my age and showed a strong interest in fashion at that age, imitating my tailored dressed mother and grandmother. I come from a family of well dressed individuals from my mother’s side of the family as well as my father’s side of the family.

I learned from watching the best dressed individuals, wearing handmade shoes and tailored suits, so it’s not so surprising that I would wind up doing business in the fashion realm to be honest.

Now onto the name of the shop. The shoe store that made me into a shoe monster is called Head Start Shoes and the store is still in business  because their shoe collections are just that awesome and sense of style has stood the test of time. Back in the days they carried shoes from footwear brands made in Argentina, Spain, Italy , Chile, and Brazil. All of the countries known for having the best shoe makers.

Quite naturally once I decided to sell shoes myself I wanted to sell the quality and style that I was accustomed to wearing myself, which was how I started my first shoe business called Sole Shoe Boutique back in 2006. I sold footwear brands in my online boutique that were from all over Europe and similar to the shoes that I would buy from Head Start Shoes back in the day.

If you ever visit Philly then be sure to check them out , they sell all European brands of high quality and design so you won’t be disappointed.

Fast forward to creating Thaqafah Shoes in 2015 which is influenced by my travels across the middle east, there was no short in searching for the best craftsman to bring my designs to life in order to provide a unique, one and only stand alone brand that would be known just by it’s design and quality alone.

Our mission has always been to design, have fun, make people happy and look fabulous and feel beautiful and amazing wearing our custom footwear, made for the bold, fashionable and young at heart.

Stay tuned to learn more about our shoe journey and what it is like to start a footwear brand independently, with all of it’s trials and errors, and ups and downs along the way.

Lashonna Ruqayyah,……………..