"She writes something in her essay that I hadn't thought of before-that maybe fashion isn't an object, it's an energy," Defebaugh says. "At the end of the day, that's what fashion is. According to Jad Finck, VP of Innovation and Sustainability, "We don't want to be a sustainable shoe company, we want to be a company that makes great shoes and we do it sustainably." They may not be shouting it from the rooftops but the environment is omnipresent, not just in their thinking but even in their office space. A lush green wall of preserved plants with the Allbirds logo emblazoned across the middle welcomes you to their San Francisco headquarters, where meeting rooms are named after New Zealand bird species (Hihi, Tui, Kiwi), the bathrooms are dubbed Birdbaths, and the conference room table is a giant slab of redwood, sanded, polished and assembled by the employees themselves.

When Brandice Daniel founded Harlem's Fashion Row in 2007, no one in the industry wanted to talk to her, or anyone else, about race. You spend the evening ordering endless champagne and desserts and laughing into the wee hours. That's the most difficult thing; how do you know you're buying the right size online? How do you know it's going to fit if you have a high arch? Everyone has a different type of foot. Ariana, Dakota, and Dresden Peters took over the collection from their father, who began collecting in the mid-1980s.

Or, nostalgic paparazzi shots of the pair adorned in Von Dutch trucker hats, Juicy Couture track suits, and, our favorite, those ubiquitous UGG boots. Now, Rothschild is singing a more refined tune, and has her own line Golden Goose Starter of timeless ballet flats, smoking slippers, and kitten heels to boot.

It wasn't like that back then. There were sneakers all over our house. "Probably when I was about 16? I went to my junior prom," she laughs, "And back then, you dyed your heels to match your dress. Shockingly, it all started in the South, when Wallerstedt took a chance and went to castings at local agencies in Dallas, a move that paid off when Proenza Schouler scooped the model up for an exclusive during New York Fashion Week in 2016.

Goertz characterizes her new Crocs are the quintessential pandemic purchase: an irrational impulse buy she likely never would have considered had the world not turned completely upside down. "They've become my quarantine shoes," she says. One area they have been reconsidering is their proposed seasonal calendar. I also believe that brands, platforms, and publications should support the nonprofits that have been started from a place of passion and purpose.