Interview with Unsent Studio, the Viral Sensation Behind the "Plant Crocs"
A conversation with the founders of one of the most viral emerging fashion brands of 2023
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely seen the Monstera Mules at some point on social media. Colloquially known as the “plant crocs”, these shoes have gone viral on almost every platform (especially TikTok) for their delightful design adored by plant-lovers and sneakerheads alike.
Behind these mules are the genius founders of Unsent Studio, a Spanish-based design studio exploring how fashion and culture intersect. I sat down with them to discuss the journey to viral sensation, business strategy, and lessons learned along the way.
First off, thank you so much for chatting with me. Can you tell me more about Unsent Studio’s origin story and how you both came up with the name?
We actually started as a footwear design studio. Our team consists of a shoe designer and a 3D designer, and we have accumulated years of experience working for well-known brands.
We love exploring novel ideas and technologies through our designs. Our name comes from the desire to investigate concepts in footwear that have not been brought to the world yet - hence, “Unsent”.
What is the mission of your brand?
To appreciate and inspire culture with creativity.
What is your brand’s aesthetic, and why did you decide to start with a Monstera-inspired shoe?
We want our aesthetic and designs to invoke creativity, fun, and positivity in the lives of our customers.
Our creative process usually starts with how we want to make people feel rather than deciding on and committing to a specific theme. When the goal is set clearly, designs that do not meet these criteria are naturally filtered out if you have a critic’s eye and an intuitive sense of what your audience would respond to.
We tried countless other designs (many that would be difficult to understand for our customers) before landing on the Monstera plant. Ultimately, we loved the Monstera leaf’s unique shape, familiarity to many people, and holes that could naturally act as vents in shoes.
Thus, we started designing, working in 3D, and making the mules become a reality. We’re happy we met our goal of "an innovative design that can be related to by many people."
What has been the most challenging part of starting a fashion brand?
We started with 2 people. It’s been very challenging to delineate each other’s roles and reach conclusions when we have different opinions.
It’s still challenging, but we have learned how to see the world from one another’s perspective and respect each other.
What has been the most rewarding?
Being able to produce products by pre-order.
Initially, we didn’t have any budget to start a business and our design was only a concept. We didn’t expect to actually produce them in real life.
Because of people who trusted us and believed in our product, we were able to produce our mules. We’re still in disbelief and are forever grateful to those that supported us.
What was your reaction to the Monstera Mules going viral? What have you learned in general about social media strategy?
When we saw us go viral on Twitter and pass 1 million views on TikTok, it was an absolutely mind-blowing experience. We had never seen new footwear brands experience that reception.
It’s been fantastic working with content creators who match our niche. Our advice to fashion brands is to make your own content as aesthetically pleasing as possible so that creators can share it without difficulty (e.g. needing to edit it further).
With your success has come knockoff products - how have you felt about bigger brands trying to copy your design?
At the end of the day, fashion is cyclical and referential - you are inspired by and then go onto inspire others.
We take it as a compliment. We were also inspired by other brands when coming up with this design. The more similar products in the market, the more visibility for your brand and design, and the more opportunities to inspire the next generation of designers.
We hope that more brands can start using nature-inspired concepts using recycled materials. We would be happy to have somehow impacted this industry in a positive way.
Who is your favorite emerging designer or brand right now?
Teddy Santis of Aimé Leon Dore. His creative directing always inspires us.
We love how thoughtfully he’s designed objects, colorways, and even the interior and experience of his stores.
While it comes across very relaxed and casual, he actually pays careful attention to the most microscopic of details.
What advice do you have to any aspiring fashion entrepreneur?
Don’t be afraid to impress yourself, and others will be impressed too.
Huge thank you to the Unsent team for sitting down for this interview with me!
If you’d like to support them, you can buy the mules on the Unsent Studio website and use code “KVN” for 10% off 🌱
Let me know if you’d like to see more emerging brand content and fashion interviews in general.
In the meantime, follow me on TikTok and subscribe to my Substack for style inspo, emerging brands, and more on the Future of Fashion⚡️