The Soul of Etu's Soles

The 34 year young Evans believes his various lines

“will be a global phenomenon.”

He’s a real sole brother. Harlemite Etu Evans’ high fashion shoe and accessory designs have graced the pages of scores of publications, and celebrities such
as Tyra Banks, Halle Berry, Beyoncé, Danny Glover, and Steve Harvey don his upscale treats for the feet.  The 34 year young Evans believes his various lines "will be a global phenomenon".

Going by the recent past, Evans’ clear vision is well-grounded. In 2004, Martell featured him in a chic ad campaign and Crain’s magazine designated the Evans Group as one of the best small businesses in New York.  Burger King selected him as one of its everyday heroes in a national promotion in February 2005. His business took in a cool $650,000 in sales last year, and he’s negotiating with investors to raise a hot $16 million.  Sky’s the limit for this of South Carolina, but his feet remain planted “in purpose.”

He arises at 5am to “pray and meditate, sing and read.  I reflect to insure that I’m ordered and centered.  Some people are distracted in life so they don’t  walk in purpose. ‘What you focus on,’ I say to young people, ‘is what you become’.”

In addition to singing Gospel and Spirituals, and reading the Bible and affirmations before most  awake from slumber, he reads wisdom quotes from his style maven grandmother, Queen Esther, his earliest inspiration.

“She had a very high canopy bed, and so many boxes of shoes stacked up  behind it. Beads cascaded off her dresser, where she had bottles and bottles of perfume.  Hats and handbags were everywhere. While she got dressed, I would always try to see what would change her body, figure out what created that magic. That was the beginning of my behavioral curiosity. As I got older, I realized that it was shoes.”

Shoe design is in his blood—Evans’ father has been a shoe maker for over a generation, and his uncle Mack studied shoe design. His mom is fashionable too, yet it was Queen Esther who said, “Make sure your shoes are always shined and that you always have a crisp clean white shirt.”

Etu has degrees from South Carolina State University and FIT, and took shoe design classes with Harlem resident Howard Davis at the Parson’s School of Design. He was labeled as learning disabled early on, but his 4.0 in Applied Behavioral Science in 1996 from Columbia University belied such nonsense. His interest in mental health springs from his experiences as a youth. “Maybe  I’ll be a designer who practices psychology. But I don’t like the adverse effects of medication on people.”

His grandmother’s sartorial advice served him well  in France and Italy as a behavioral therapist for affluent clients. “They like the way I dressed. One gentleman in the south of France told me, ‘Not only do you have style, you have class. They’re going to love you in Paris.’” Soon after, he was referred to  a publicist for Gucci and Prada.

These couture pace-setters recommended that he quit his job, which just affirmed his own plan for entrepreneurship. “I had opportunities to work for major companies but I want to be an example to teach generational wealth.” His work as Assistant Director of the Institute for Youth Entrepreneurship and as an Adjunct Professor at Berkeley College in White Plains shows his desire to transfer knowledge to youth, as does his Solesville Foundation, established in Harlem in 1998.

The foundation’s motto is “saving soles of children and youth one step at a time.” 

Thousands of pairs of shoes have been collected for refurbishment. Victims of Katrina in Mississippi and New Orleans have received donations. Organizations such as Dress for Success as well as back-to-work shelters and fire survivors are also blessed by his nonprofit effort. Evans even plans to establish an apprenticeship program to “encourage individuals from 13-24 to put their best foot forward.”

If you enter his private studio at 138 West 127th Street, where by-appointment-only customers get feted with fruit juice elixir and foot massages as music floats off exposed brick walls and oak floors, you’d see curvaceous organic objects and European, African and “Harlem Americana” antiques everywhere, along with his favorite color: mystical purple. “Curves exude warmth and carry romanticism,” he says. “My space is a place for comfort, creativity and craftsmanship. The artistic temper of my work is audacious and  subdued, eclectic and classical.”

Does he have the curves of a special woman in his life? “I’m accepting applications,” Evans replies with a winning smile. “She needs to be able to walk in heels, and keep her feet pedicure. She needs to be nurturing, intellectually stimulating, emotionally available, and spiritually grounded. I call it the Cinderfello story: I have the right shoes—I’m looking for the right fit.” HW
The Soul of Etu's Sole's.

Etu Evans is a sophisticated creative genius with designs in international success.

HW Editors-in-Chief Greg Thomas delves into the professional and  personal sides of Harlem's couture shoe designer. Photographed by Hosea Johnson, clothing by B. Oyama, men's shoes...you know whose.