FOOTWEAR PLUS
TRIPLE THREAT: Jaclyn Jones Puts Feminine Spin on Clover & Cobbler Shoe Factory and Her Three Labels
WHEN JACLYN JONES tells people she’s not just a designer for three footwear lines, but also owns the factory, people often do a double take. Female owners are a rarity in the shoe making world, but Jones is shaking that up. As the owner of the Clover & Cobbler factory and JJUSA (Jaclyn Jones USA) line, plus co-designer of Salpy and Californians, the exec is bringing a fresh approach to domestic manufacturing and design.
Always interested in fashion (she taught herself how to sew at age 13 and never stopped creating), Jones earned degrees in marketing and business to balance her design skills and set out to make luxury shoes women could actually walk in. “I used to save up to buy these ‘luxury’ shoes, then I’d look at them with dread as they sat unworn in my closet, stiff and uncomfortable,” she says. In 2017, Jones set out to create her own luxury comfort line, but when she searched for a Los Angeles factory, all she found was frustration. “I searched tirelessly for six months,” she says. “When I finally found a factory to produce my brand, it felt like I’d broken into an underground industry.” After manufacturing at the International Last factory for a few seasons, owners Salpy and Kevork Kalaidjian asked Jones to buy them out. She took the leap.
In 2018, she relocated to a new, 20,000-square-foot facility in Van Nuys, CA, and renamed it Clover & Cobbler, aiming to breathe new life into a centuries-old craft. The airy, more “feminine” factory offers zero minimums (“meeting factory minimums is often the biggest hurdle to navigating the overwhelm-ing journey of a new designer”) plus an inviting showroom that has served as client photo shoots. The factory specializes in making hand-carved and hand-stained wood heels and wedges. “This allows us to make exactly the number of heels needed, rather than ordering thousands of plastic heels at one time,” Jones says. “This means less plastic waste for the environment.” A library with thousands of last models also helps with variety, as well as reducing client costs. Quicker turnaround times are another Clover & Cobbler advantage. “We’re able to quickly make slight adjustments in materials, colors and sometimes even heel-heights,” she explains.
Jones stretches artistically as her three lines explore unique style niches, materials and construction techniques. JJUSA ($700 to $2,000 SRP) is rooted in luxurious comfort, with small handcrafted batches up to 18 pairs per style, featuring high-quality leathers and materials, custom hardware and 4mm-thick custom insoles. Eel, ostrich and snake will be key Fall ’20’s exotic stories, Jones says. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Salpy ($250 to $800) is co-designed with the Kalaidjians and features Western-inspired designs and artisanal hand-carved, stained wood heels with new shapes slated for this fall. Californians ($99-$225) is the newest brand, co-designed with industry veteran Bill Clark. The brand’s ethos is reminiscent of the Golden State’s laid-back ’70s era. A slightly different construction method allows Californians to reach this lower price point and target a new audience, and the Fall ’20 collection will feature new animal hair prints.
For inspiration, Jones cites Sophia Webster and Tory Burch—namely Sophia’s whimsical, feminine spirit and Tory’s class and timelessness—as strong, confident women who paved the way for ambitious young designers like herself to break into a male-dominated industry. International travel is another huge inspiration, and Jones buys a pair of shoes in every country she visits. “These shoes remind me of the diversity in cultures and designers out there,” she says. “I’ve traveled across all seven continents, so I have quite the collection!”
Since 80 percent of Clover & Cobbler’s private label designers are female and 95 percent of her factory’s footwear is women’s, Jones sees her gender as a huge advantage. “I understand women’s footwear inside and out, from construction processes to knowing what makes a shoe comfortable,” she says.
Opening a female-owned factory wasn’t without challenges, however. “There were days that felt like every turn I was greeted with, ‘That’s not the way it’s done’ or just flat out ‘no’s.’ Was this because I’m a woman in a male-dominated industry and generations younger than them? I’m not sure, but I’d already encountered obstacles when launching JJUSA—challenging the mold of how women’s shoes were created—so I had experience standing my ground until I got that ‘yes.’” What’s more, the designer/manufacturer has a “pocketful of tips and tricks” to overcome any challenges that might come her way. —By Lauren Parker
