Marina Larroudé, co-founder and creative director of Larroudé footwear, is disrupting the fashion industry with her bold approach and unique designs. Starting the brand during the pandemic with just $4,000, Larroudé offers luxury shoes priced between $290 and $590 that prioritize comfort and whimsical style. Her unconventional strategy includes building shoe construction from scratch for better fit and sustainability, and moving away from traditional wholesale models to a direct-to-consumer approach. Famous fans like Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez have helped propel the brand's success.
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Marina Larroudé, co-founder and creative director of the footwear brand Larroudé, is disrupting the fashion industry by offering luxury shoes priced between $290 and $590. Despite working in fashion for over 25 years, Larroudé, who grew up in São Paulo, Brazil, always chose bold patterns and bright colors due to the city's hot climate. This unique style informed her approach to shoe design. In 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she and her husband Ricardo launched their brand with only $4,000 and a Shopify site, initially offering four styles. Building the company internally rather than acquiring an existing model was costly but ultimately successful. The brand has gained traction with celebrity fans like Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Alicia Keys, and former First Lady Jill Biden.
Written for “Marina Larroude Fashion Impact” on 2026-09-15,
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Despite having worked in the fashion industry for more than 25 years, Marina Larroudé, the co-founder and creative director of footwear brand Larroudé, has never been one to wear black.
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Larroudé → work → black
She chalks it up to her Brazilian upbringing.
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She → chalk → upbringing
Growing up in São Paulo, it was so hot that “wearing black was not even an option,” says the former fashion director turned shoe designer, 46, who has called New York City home for half her life.
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who → grow → life
Out of both personal taste and necessity, she built herself a wardrobe full of lightweight fabrics in bold patterns and candy-colored shades.
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she → build → patterns
She now believes her whimsical style, a proud product of her background, was the key to her success in the fashion industry.
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style → believe → industry
“Having a different point of view was actually a strength—I really used that to my advantage,” she says.
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she → have → advantage
Larroudé has taken that same approach with her namesake global footwear brand (pronounced lah-roo-DAY), which offers luxury shoes for between $290 and $590.
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which → take → 290
Larroudé and her co-founder, CEO, and husband, Ricardo Larroudé, then both unemployed, launched their debut collection in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic with just $4,000 and a Shopify site.
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Larroudé → launch → 4,000
They offered a selection of four styles: a knee-high boot, a chunky platform, a mule, and a pointed-toe ballet flat.
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They → offer → styles
The shoes came in black, ivory, and a few playful patterns, including a daisy print.
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shoes → come → print
While the floral pattern was more her style, the mother of two knew from her previous job working as vice president and fashion director at Barneys New York that neutral colors always sold best.
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colors → know → York
Yet something unexpected happened after the COVID vaccine became available and people started going out again: the daisy print sold out.
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print → happen → ?
“It was like a revenge shopping situation,” she says.
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she → say → situation
The self-financed brand leaned into Marina’s style, designing shoes for those who were looking to have fun with fashion without sacrificing comfort.
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who → finance → comfort
“I don’t want someone to buy a shoe from us and not wear it,” she says, which is why she hired a fellow Brazilian woman as head engineer to construct her shoes, which include wider toe boxes and memory foam soles, from scratch.
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which → want → scratch
Building the construction internally instead of buying an existing model, which is the industry norm, was an expensive move that ended up paying off for the brand, whose famous fans include Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Alicia Keys, and former First Lady Jill Biden.
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fans → build → Swift
As an entrepreneur, Marina believes she has to take risks in order to succeed.
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she → believe → risks
“If I play by the old playbook, I’m not going to get anywhere,” she says.
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she → play → playbook
“We are here to disrupt what no longer works.”
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what → disrupt → ?
It’s not the only risk Marina took to grow her brand, which also designs handbags.
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which → ’ → handbags
At Ricardo’s suggestion, she moved away from the wholesale business model—the industry standard which prioritizes bulk orders from major retailers—and adopted a more sustainability-minded direct-to-consumer model.
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which → move → model
Customers are able to pre-order upcoming styles months in advance, allowing the company to streamline production processes and ensure minimal waste.
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company → pre → waste
“We see what the customers are responding to,” she says.
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she → see → what
“And then we chase that demand.”
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we → chase → demand
By 2023, demand was so great that Marina and Ricardo opened a nearly 100,000 sq ft factory in Sapiranga, Brazil, where production, logistics, marketing, and administration all happen under one roof.
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production → open → roof
In less than five years, Larroudé has grown from a five-person team to an operation of 750 employees.
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Larroudé → grow → employees
The brand with nine-digit revenue currently manufactures 500,000 shoes a year with a goal to manufacture a million pairs annually by 2028.
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brand → manufacture → 2028
As the business continues to expand, supporting the Brazilian people behind the brand remains a priority.
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supporting → continue → brand
“To give prosperity back to a country,” Marina says, including by providing employees with comprehensive health benefits and opportunities for growth, “that, for me, is the silver lining.”
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that → give → me
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