From the Studio • Inspired by the Sea
Meet the Bluefish Collection: 22 hours of handwork and a summer memory I have been carrying for 30 years
Every Sarah Flint collection starts somewhere real, and the Bluefish Collection starts on a boat on Buzzards Bay with my dad.
We would go out just the two of us every summer. Bluefish are one of the main things you catch in that part of New England, fighting, fast, silvery in the light. This season I finally figured out how to put them on a shoe.
The result is two styles in the S26 collection: the Judy Loafer and the Perfect Block Sandal 60, both in natural linen with bluefish embroidered across them in metallic Madeira threads. I want to tell you exactly how we got there.
WHY BLUEFISH
My family spends summers on Buzzards Bay, on the south coast of Massachusetts. Growing up, my dad and I would go out fishing together, just the two of us. Bluefish are one of the main things you catch there. They are fast and they fight hard, and when the light hits their scales there is this silvery iridescence that I have never forgotten.
Getting the embroidery right
We went through a few versions before landing on this one. Some earlier iterations had heavier cross-hatching, which looked more like an illustration. What I wanted was something that felt alive, that had that same shimmer.
The composition was its own challenge. The first version of the loafer had just two fish on the top part, which was pretty but felt too composed. It didn't capture what I was actually picturing, which was a school of fish, moving every which way, a little haphazard. Getting that feeling without it turning into a border or a pattern running along the edge of the shoe took several iterations. I think it came out best on the heel of the sandal, where you can really see the fish swimming in different directions.
The final version uses Madeira metallic threads in four shades: two for the base embroidery and two more for a cross-hatch layer on top. That layering is what creates the tonal variation. Against the matte natural linen, the thread catches the light in a way that reads almost exactly like fish scales. That contrast is the whole point of the shoe.
What 22 hours of handwork actually means
Each motif takes 22 hours to embroider by hand. I say that not as a marketing line but because I think it changes how you look at the shoe.
When you work with embroiderers the way we do, in family-owned factories that have been doing this for generations, you understand that the time is not inefficiency. It is the work. The cross-hatching layer has to be placed by hand to create the variation. You cannot rush the way the threads lie. A single fish that is slightly off looks wrong in a way that is hard to articulate but immediately visible.
The two styles
The Judy Loafer is a pointed-toe flat in natural linen with the bluefish scattered across the top part and toe. It is the shoe I reach for on summer days that are long and unpredictable, from a morning errand to a lunch that turns into dinner on a terrace.
The Perfect Block Sandal 60 has an ankle strap and the same embroidery, concentrated at the heel and ankle. This is a shoe for a garden party, a summer wedding, a rooftop dinner. Both styles are limited. We made a small number of each because the embroidery takes what it takes.
My dad passed the love of those summers on to me in the best way he knew how: by showing up, going slowly, and paying attention to what was in front of us. I hope you can feel a little of that in these shoes.
Shop the Limited Bluefish Linen Capsule
