Meet the woman behind the cult crystal ballet flats every fashion editor is currently wearing

You’ve probably admired a pair of Dear Frances shoes without knowing it. The London-based brand has become the cool girls' go-to for chic, beautifully crafted and distinctly unshouty shoes. Think almond-toe boots in buttery leather and glossy patent mules, all devoid of logos and fuss. The one exception is the Balla Crystals flat, a sleek, mesh ballet slipper that’s liberally embellished. It’s a modern Cinderella shoe – if Cinderella wore The Row and Phoebe Philo, that is. 

The woman behind the cult shoes is Australian-born Jane Frances, who learned the art of shoemaking in Italy. Jane herself is exactly how you’d imagine her to be – poised, thoughtful and incredibly chic. I sat down with the brand founder to chat all about style, inspiration and, of course, shoes.

How and why did you first embark upon a career in fashion?

I always wanted to work in fashion and I always had a passion for design. I started in the brand marketing side of things and I worked agency-side in Sydney, Australia. I worked in that field for a short period of time, on a couple of fashion clients, and other businesses as well, which I enjoyed. But I was never really passionate about it.

I decided to follow what I always wanted to do, and I went over to Italy to study shoe design. I got to know one of my teachers quite well, a technical shoe teacher called Gianpietro Papa. I spent quite a lot of time visiting lots of small factories with him and just immersing myself in the world of shoe production and Italian craftsmanship.

I came home from studying and shortly after my husband and I moved to Paris with his work. I would travel back and forth from Italy and I'd meet up with Gianpietro and work in the factory where he also worked as a pattern maker and a pattern cutter. I spent a lot of time just on the factory floor with him just learning his craft and the craft of assembling shoes in Italy. There were probably some of the best months of my life. I really enjoyed learning those age-old techniques of shoe design. It's where it started really.

Many years later, I decided to launch my own label. I really wanted to focus on that craft, bringing it into a more modern setting, combining the old and the new.

What first ignited your love of shoes?

I often wonder where it comes from. I just always really loved them. My mum and her mum, my grandma, have always had beautiful, Italian-made shoes, something that my mum always invested in and always took very good care of, and it taught me to take care of my shoes and to take them to the cobbler and have them resoled – very unlike how a lot of products are cared for, or not, these days. I do remember shoe shopping with her and really enjoyed it.

What does an average day at work look like for you?

It’s always different. I live near the [Dear Frances] studio, so I generally take my little one off to school and grab a coffee and just walk into the studio. I work with my husband – we walk in together, and then from there it's always different. At the moment, we are working on a few new product lines, which is exciting. We also spend quite a few days out of the studio as well, whether it's at photo shoots or catching up with people in the industry or all sorts of different things. It's always busy.

What's it like working with your partner?

We've done it for such a long time now, it feels normal. I think it would be strange without him! It works well and we are very, very opposite in terms of skill set and what we work on in the business. I work on design and creative direction and Scott very much runs the business, all the numbers, all the operations, that side of things. We don't tend to step on each other's toes too frequently.

How would you describe the Dear Frances aesthetic?

Calm but strong.

Who and what inspires you?

I think inspiration can come from anywhere. A lot of our references come from the world of furniture design, but also just texture in general. Something that's always inspired me for one reason are pieces that combine texture in an interesting way, and we try to infuse that into our shoes.

What are your favourite Dear Frances shoes right now? And how are you styling them?

At the moment, I am loving Balla, along with everybody else. I've been wearing them all winter, styled with tights and skirts and a nice big coat over the top. Also, at the moment, I've gotten back into Luca, our classic loafer, which I hadn't worn for quite a few months, but maybe it's the season. I've been wearing it with socks and trousers and a nice knit. We’re actually going to be introducing it in some nice new colours and patents. I've been road-testing those.

What are the most popular styles?

It depends on the season but our Balla flats did really well all winter, and they’re coming back even stronger again for the spring. The [ones with the] crystals have picked up really nicely since we introduced them in January, they're still really popular.

We also launched our new-season collection recently. We have a really nice edit of styles completely covered in raffia and seagrass, and they've been doing really well already, even though the weather's still cool. 

The Blake boot [sold out; alternative here] is very popular, too. I've been wearing them all winter.

The crystal mesh flats are incredible. Were they a challenge to create?

They actually took a lot of test runs. It was difficult to get right, and it was difficult to find a process to ensure they were going to be durable enough. They took a lot of testing and it was actually a style that we intended to launch about six months earlier, but we had to delay it just to get it right and to know that it was executed in the best way.

How would you describe your own style and what are your favourite brands?

I guess my own style is fairly minimal, but I really like layering and combining different textures. I just love a good knit with jeans, our Crystal Balla, and a nice oversized coat on top. I love Jill Sander, Toteme, Stella. I wear a lot of Tibi as well.

Who do you think has great style?

My grandma has impeccable style. She always looks so elegant and so well put-together, and I've always felt that everything she throws on, she just looks very modern and elegant. She was always my style icon growing up and still is. But other than that, I really just enjoy seeing how people on the streets put together really interesting outfits.

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