Spanx founder Sara Blakely unveils high-heeled sneakers: ‘Hard to change world when your feet hurt’

August 16, 2024

Spanx founder Sara Blakely thinks she has the next must-have accessory for women on the go: a pair of high-heeled sneakers.

Blakely — who used $5,000 in savings to launch a line of undergarments that became a billion-dollar empire — posted an Instagram message this week teasing a “luxury hybrid stiletto” and “hy-heel sneaker,” saying the project has been in the works for nine years.

“BIG NEWS!!! I’ve been secretly working on/dreaming about something for years. A new invention, and a new brand!” she wrote on Monday, adding that the launch is slated for Tuesday, Aug. 20.

But Inc. magazine noticed that a new website was already posted — Sneex.com — which offers shoppers high-heeled sneakers made of Napa leather, mesh and suede.

The shoe was engineered to eliminate pain points that are common with high heels, including the narrow toe box, weight which is distributed unevenly onto the ball of the foot and a gap between the heel of the foot and the shoe, according to Axios, which cited the patent and trademark registration.

The sneakers’ retail prices range from $395 to $595 per pair.

“We put a man on the moon,” Blakely told “60 Minutes Australia” back in 2013. “Somebody needs to invent a comfortable high heel.”

On the Sneex web site, Blakely said that it has been her “mission to advocate for women through product.”

“We’ve been fed the line that beauty is pain… but does it have to be?” she said.

Blakely said that Sneex “are my love letter to every woman who has taken her shoes off at a party, who wears flats to work with heels in her bag, who thought her days of wearing heels were over.”

“It’s hard to change the world when your feet hurt.”