There is something about hearing the words “one of a kind” that tends to pique the interest of listeners. When said with regard to a product, people often think “expensive” or “custom”. This was my first thought when I heard that there’s a company that makes shoes out of Turkish carpets. While Artemis is indeed on the pricey side (hence why I have the camera strap and not a pair of shoes to present), the 5 year young company makes an incredibly high quality product with a story to go with it. I had to check out what made a company so special that they literally have a “Love Letters from the press” section on their website. After a trip to Istanbul back in 2007, a young designer Milicent Armstrong couldn’t stop thinking about the items she saw that were repurposed from vintage carpets. While in design school, she returned to Istanbul and partnered with a local artisan shop to produce Kilim loafers which she then sold out of her South End apartment in Boston. The shoes were a massive hit, and since then Artemis has grown to offer a variety of Kilim products from duffle bags to the camera strap you see here. What is so magical is that while quality is consistent, no two Artemis items are the same, so you can feel like a princess wearing your very own “flying carpet shoes” as people call them. Fun fact: despite the fact that Artemis are sold in very few locations across the US (mostly online business), you can find Artemis products at our very own Oona’s Vintage and Modern in Cambridge!
