EXCLUSIVE: Harrys London Names Maud O’Keeffe Design Director
Harrys London, the English shoe company, has named Maud O’Keeffe design director.
She replaces Graeme Fidler, who served as consulting creative director, and will be in charge of the brand’s footwear and accessories collections.
“Maud is a real designer’s designer and she brings status as well as great skill to Harrys,” said Sean Dixon, Harrys London’s managing director.
“With the imminent launch of our new, revolutionary Harley Street-developed footbed, this is an exciting time for the brand. Maud is simply the perfect person to take us forward,” he added.
Dixon was referring to a technical, sports-inspired footbed that Fidler developed with experts at the Harley Street-based Marylebone Health Group (MHG) in London. It’s lightweight, ergonomic, and made using a foam gel.
In an interview, O’Keeffe said the brand’s technology and sustainability initiatives were what attracted her to the position.
“We are going through a full sustainability drive, where [everything] will be completely transparent. We’ll be using all Leather Working Group suedes and leathers, so they will be certified gold standard. I want to bring in more and more sustainable materials – but true sustainability, not any green washing,” she added.
There are 17 processes for a brand to be certified by the Leather Working Group, including an audit of the factories and tanneries.
Prior to joining Harrys London, O’Keeffe started her career in marketing in the ‘90s at Jean Paul Gaultier, Patrick Cox, Alexander McQueen and Helmut Lang.
In 2011, she met a manufacturer who wanted to launch a footwear brand, and together they developed O’Keeffe collection.
“I had pattern cutting experience in the past, and I learned on the job,” she said.
O’Keeffe had a successful run and was worn by men including Javier Bardem, Idris Elba, Jon Hamm, Michael Fassbender, Bradley Cooper and Matt Smith.
In 2017, she launched the footwear category for Mr P., Mr Porter’s own brand, and continued working at Mr Porter until April, 2024. She left her eponymous business in 2018.
O’Keeffe said footwear has been a part of her life from a young age. When she was 11 years old, her grandmother bought her a pair of Church’s custom-made brogues to wear to school.
“I turned up at school wearing a pair of bench-made brogues when everyone else was in really cool loafers. It was like, ‘Who was this awful child turning up with a pair of lace-ups? We’ve all got cool loafers on.’ But it was actually the construction of the shoes that really fascinated me,” she said.
Harrys is owned by Charles S. Cohen, the billionaire commercial real estate developer who also owns Savile Row tailor Richard James. He purchased Harrys in 2017 from Palladin Consumer Retail Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm.
Cohen is the owner and CEO of Cohen Brothers Realty Corp., which specializes in prime Class A and design center properties across the U.S. He also heads the Cohen Media Group, an independent film production and distribution company, and is a true Renaissance man, with passions that range from design and wine to film and fashion.
Harrys of London was founded in London in 2001 with the idea of creating a men’s luxury footwear brand that would combine quality craftsmanship with modern design detail — and comfort. The brand has two London stores, on Savile Row and Motcomb Street, and one in New York at 463 Park Avenue.