Sarah Sclarandis: A Shoe-In for Good

When Sarah Sclarandis first moved to New York City in the late 90s, she was immersed in the world of fashion and shoes as an accessories and fashion designer. Italian-born and now New York-based, Sarah worked in fashion for years before launching her own line a few years ago. Always interested in putting good in to all that she does, Sarah made philanthropy a part of her new company’s mission. We sat down with Sarah to talk about why she chooses God’s Love.

Sarah, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I was born in Italy and grew up there and in the U.K. I’d always had an interest in beautiful things, and went to school for fashion to learn how to make beauty a part of my not just my everyday life, but my career, too.

I moved to New York in the late 90s and fell in love! It was such an exciting time for fashion, and brands were doing such wonderful things. And as wild and fun as the fashion world was back then, there was a harder, darker side to it, too. AIDS had taken my beloved fashion community by storm and it felt like it was lurking around every corner.

That’s right – the 90s were certainly a height of the pandemic. Is that how you came to know God’s Love?

Naturally, everyone in fashion knew about God’s Love, because of its start serving those living with and dying from HIV/AIDS – so many in the fashion and design communities. I had friends and colleagues who were affected and I knew that I wanted to do something to help them, and the broader community.

One November day, a colleague of mine came up to me and asked me if I wanted to join him and raise money for the Race to Deliver, benefiting God’s Love. I looked at the date and the Race was only a week away! And while actually *running* four miles wasn’t my cup of tea, I thought I could raise money for this worthy cause, no problem. And so I’ve been supporting God’s Love ever since.

How are you supporting God’s Love these days?

I own my own shoe company now called Sclarandis and in 2019 held an event on the 5^th floor of God’s Love We Deliver, where I invited other designer friends to sell their product and donate a portion of the proceeds to God’s Love. The weather was awful that day – truly, it was like a hurricane came to God’s Love! – but still, people came to shop and support God’s Love. Given how many people came out to support God’s Love when the weather was disastrous really shows how much people believe in and want to support this organization!

A few years ago after my daughters were born I decided to take the leap to finally start my own company. It was so much to work to do it all but I’m so proud that I did. And when I started Sclarandis, I made sure to include philanthropy in my company’s mission, so that buyers and colleagues could see that giving back was a core belief I held.

When COVID hit, we decided to give a percentage of our sales to God’s Love and we’ve been doing that ever since. We’re looking for new ways to partner with God’s Love – maybe another event, the Race to Deliver, and this year I’ll get my daughters involved with birthday cards for clients! It’s great to know there are so many ways to give back, and I’m proud to do what I love and support this organization I love all at the same time.

We’re so grateful to Sarah for her support! Check out Sarah’s beautiful shoes and learn more about her philanthropy on her Doing Good page.