Aida Stenholm celebrates the tenth anniversary of her handmade, custom shoemaking business on November 18. Her Wichita workshop survived the pandemic and is now thriving—creating unique and captivating designs in shoes, handbags, and other leather goods. Her specialty is the driving shoe, a distinctive style that is both comfortable and beautiful (and not only for driving), though she makes wallets, bags, and other shoes as well.
Every design produced by Stenholm is made by hand, from start to finish, using the tubular system—a traditional manufacturing process featuring custom cuts to achieve greater flexibility. A true and meticulous artisan, she spoke to us about her process.
How did you get your start in shoe design and construction?
I started ten years ago. Once I decided what I wanted to do, my family and I moved to Peru for a few months where I studied shoe design.
Where do you get inspiration for your shoe designs?
It’s all around. It’s almost a sickness—when I travel, walk around, or even watch TV the first thing I notice is shoes. When I see something new, I’m not afraid to go right up and ask the person about it. It used to be embarrassing for my family, but I think they are over it by now. I’ve been that way since I was a child. I get color pattern inspiration from everywhere. We have been trained that shoes should be brown, black, or white or else they won’t match with anything. That’s total nonsense—we don’t think that way about anything else.
How long does each pair of shoes take to make, and what is your process like?
The first step is to select the style, colors, and textures for the leathers. I’ll then measure the feet and get to cutting the leather. Sewing, steaming, drying, sole construction—and voilà! The entire process takes about three days, but I try to give myself two weeks to fill an order. I’ll start over if it’s not perfect, so it’s hard to consistently fill a tight timeline. Most customers appreciate that—they would rather have it right as opposed to right now.
Why do you love handcrafting your products?
It’s a bit of a lost art. For centuries, this is how shoes were made. Each design takes so much to perfect that it seems like a waste to program it into a machine and sit back. Although, some days when my hands are sore, I dream…