TAFT

TAFT, the dress boot company run from Provo, was called Wimbleys until an old tie company sent a cease-and-desist in the middle of its first Kickstarter. Kory and Mallory Stevens renamed it after their son, whose middle name is Taft. The campaign sold men's no-show socks and raised $46,880 in 28 days.

Kory and Mallory started it in 2013 in a two-bedroom apartment, fresh out of college and expecting their first baby. The idea had come weeks earlier on the steps of Sacré-Cœur in Paris, on the way to Nutella and coconut crepes. In November 2015 a sock grab bag, 10 pairs for $20, hit Reddit, and Kory's phone started chiming with orders on his way to a Christmas tree lighting. Pricing the Jack boot, he told Stitchdown, he didn't yet know what it cost to make. "Let's do $189. Seems fair." About 400 pairs sold the night they launched.

The $189 did not last. Boots now mostly run $349 to $395, and the company says its shoes are made in small batches in Italy. The Forged Floral collection sets florals against metallic leather, a hard turn for a company that started with a sock designed to be invisible.