About Roger and Sarah Adams

Roger and Sarah Adams began their professional involvement with pointed stilettos in England in the summer of 1983, and spent several years retailing shoes ranging from original, old-stock 1960's-made stiletto-heeled women's fashion shoes to the pointed-toe, "alternative" styles produced by small London shoe factories. During this period they also worked closely with legendary Brighton alternative clothing designer, manufacturer and retailer, The Kooky Shop.

By 1988, Roger and Sarah had designed and launched their own range of stiletto-influenced shoes, which they commissioned to be made in London by The City Cobbler - a small firm of shoemakers previously involved with making bespoke shoes for city businessmen and women. The shoes were well-received internationally, featuring frequently in the fashion press (Elle, The Tatler, and Vogue amongst others.) The higher, five-and-a- quarter-inch heels in particular, although never really intended to be "fetish shoes" as such, developed a crossover appeal and were often photographed, notably by the late Bob Carlos Clarke (modelled by Tanya Coleridge for a Daniel James shoot) and Trevor Watson for designer Krystina Kitsis's Ectomorph catalogue. Roger and Sarah, coming from a background of "old stock" stilettos and post-punk street fashion had no serious intention of designing for the fetish scene - there were no six inch heels or large sizes for cross-dressers in the collection. The intention was always to recreate the high, slender pointed stiletto shoes of the early 1960s - the limiting factor being the limitations of the British shoe component industry of the 1980s, which resulted in a somewhat heavier-looking, thicker-heeled shoe than was required.

Roger and Sarah's 1980s shoes were available primarily from their own Brighton shop and mail-order catalogue, and from designer Kim West's "Heels of London" (the shoe department of her Kensington Market shop.) Other stockists included Skin Two Retail, "Cover Girl" and "Trash and Vaudeville" in New York.  

Shoes from Roger and Sarah's lower-heeled range were also featured on the catwalk and stocked by Katharine Hamnett. Actress/singer/model Milla Jovovich modelled them in a multi-page photo shoot for French Vogue magazine. Madonna wore Roger and Sarah Adams lower-heeled faux cheetah-skin mules, (purchased from Kim West) on the cover of her Danilo 1992 photographic calendar.

At the height of their success, but faced with a time of severe economic recession, Roger and Sarah decided to quit the shoe business to pursue other careers, leaving the marketing and manufacturing of their original collection of designs with Costas Kyriacou, the son of the family of shoemakers who had been producing the shoes. Roger and Sarah's original collection of designs, plus some closely related additional variations along the way, have thus been re-marketed under various names (familiar to some) over the years.

During subsequent years, shoe fashion began leaning more and more towards very pointed toes - especially in Spain and Italy - eventually even surpassing Roger and Sarah's own 1980s designs. The true stiletto heel, however, still proved to be as elusive as ever. The new pointed shoes all seemed to have the wrong heels - too straight, too thick and too set-back. Roger and Sarah's passion for shoes was re-kindled at the beginning of 2006 when Roger spotted a shoe from Italy with a really authentic stiletto heel - to rival anything made in 1960. Contact was made and, following a visit to Italy and a tour of the lastmakers, leather merchants and component suppliers, a working relationship was established with the shoemaker. In the Summer of that year, Roger and Sarah launched their new label, using the shorter and snappier title, RoSa, derived from the first two letters of their respective names.

A decision was made that there would be no "bricks and mortar" retail shop and no wholesale side to the business. The sole RoSa outlet would be the online shop, which remains the case to this day - a strategy which has enabled RoSa Shoes to survive and consolidate, building a client base in over 30 countries across six continents.

The first collection was based on a very authentic "classic" 10cm stiletto heel and an unprecedentedly extreme pointed toe, made to Roger's exacting specifications. The following Spring saw the introduction of the RoSa 12cm High Stiletto which quickly gained recognition as the finest ultra-long-pointed, high-heeled stiletto shoe being produced anywhere in the world. In February 2009 it was featured, worn by supermodel Lara Stone (aka Mrs. David Walliams) in  the New York Times' Sunday magazine (Women's Fashion, Spring 2009), prompting an upsurge of interest from US customers.

The success of the High Stiletto range of shoes was later eclipsed by the popularity of the Ultra High Stiletto collection, featuring a slightly higher, equally slender 13cm heel and a choice of toe shape including round, medium-length point and extreme long point. A collection of Platform Stiletto designs was also added.

RoSa Shoes have appeared in the photographic calendars for shoe devotees produced by Workman Publishing of New York, and are featured by the Virtual Shoe Museum of the Netherlands. Most recently, they can be seen in the book "Shoes A-Z" (Thames & Hudson) by author Jonathan Walford, the founding curator of the world-famous Bata Shoe Museum of Toronto.
 

Roger and Sarah Adams have always drawn inspiration from their early days in Brighton, England, as collectors and sellers of vintage pointed stilettos. They continue to live and work in the UK, but their shoe designs are now made in Italy, birthplace of the original pointed-toe stilettos of the early 1960s, under the supervision of experienced shoemakers in a region well-known for its designer shoe production. In the new RoSa Shoes range, ideas evocative of the original stiletto "golden era" combine with unsurpassed Italian components, craftsmanship and a modern perspective to create an outstanding collection of stiletto-heeled shoes and boots.

Memory Lane (a slide show of images from the early days!)