Bryr Studio Pop-Up
Images courtesy of Bryr Studio.
I’ve been creeping on Bryr for a while now. But no matter how gorgeous the nubuck or how stunning the wooden platform, I never pulled the trigger. There was such a high barrier to entry - super expensive (almost $300 with shipping!), limited sizing info (no detailed measurement charts or foot sketches), a fairly long production runway (their website estimates 30 days), and a gnarly return policy (read: store credit only, processed within 20 days). So when I heard that San Francisco-based Bryr Studio would be opening a pop-up shop in my very own Portland, OR, I nearly crapped my pants.
Did the pop-up event look like an Anthropologie threw up all over a clog factory? Yes, yes it did. Did I show up slightly tipsy after a Sunday girls’ brunch? Affirmative. Did I try on the stunning high-heeled closed-toe Chloe clog in tomato nubuck that I had been lusting after for all those months? You bet your ass I did. And did I go home with them? No! No I didn’t.
I don’t know why I didn’t buy those babies on the spot, but something told me to hold out. The price point felt just far enough out of reach. Did I really want to be that girl strutting around town in my Bryrs?
When I was finally ready to pull the trigger a month later (in August - it was my birthday month, ok?!), to my dismay the tomato nubuck was out of stock! I contacted Bryr to inquire about any extra scraps, any possibility of a custom order, but they were fresh out, full-stop.
Cut to November. Just when I was finally starting to get over my crush on the tomato Chloe, the team at Bryr emailed me out of the blue. They had clocked my special order request and were reaching out to let me know that they found some extra tomato nubuck, and yeah, they could get me that closed-toe Chloe I had been moderately obsessed with.
I. Was. Stunned. STUNNED. I’ve had some good customer service experiences, but this has to be the GOAT. My custom beauties arrived in no less than one week. I slipped them on for brunch, followed by an impromptu trip to Madewell. Literally 30 seconds after I walked in the door, the salesperson stopped me and exclaimed, “Oh my god are those the the Tomato Bryrs?! I’m so jealous. I got a pair at the pop-up but I’m too nervous to actually wear them in case something bad happens to them! I’m obsessed with everything about your clogs.”
The Bottom Line. Bryr has limited sustainability information available on their website, but a few key things are clear: all of their clogs are handmade by a small team in San Francisco, CA using American leathers and European solid wood bases. The leathers in particular are sourced by US tanneries with “ecological manufacturing processes.”
One thing that feels great? Bryr is female-owned and operated. And since each order is made to order, one can surmise that production waste is kept to a minimum. While the price is very steep, they do offer a variety of styles to fit a variety of foot shapes and sizes. All in all, I’m happy to support this company but hope that they add more robust sustainability details to their website as time goes on - and know that this will likely be a once-in-a-lifetime purchase at its current price point.