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Hi, I'm Kristin


My craft is from Italy. My home is in Australia. But the place that shaped me most was the tiny village in East Germany where I grew up.


In my village, life was simple, self-sufficient, and deeply rooted in community. A different time — back when the country was still under Soviet rule, decades behind the West.

Ours was a place where every home held a skill.

My neighbours were carpenters, bricklayers, seamstresses, potters, and weavers. My grandfather was the village blacksmith. My grandmother looked after the animals, preserved food for winter, and kept the household running with care.

People relied on one another’s hands.

And the work they did mattered.
It was functional, beautiful, made to last.

Hi, I'm Kristin

My craft is from Italy.
My home is Australia.
But the place that shaped me most was the tiny village in East Germany where I grew up.


In my village, life was simple, self-sufficient, and deeply rooted in community. A different time — back when the country was still under Soviet rule, decades behind the West.

Ours was a place where every home held a skill.

My neighbours were carpenters, bricklayers, seamstresses, potters, and weavers. My grandfather was the village blacksmith. My grandmother looked after the animals, preserved food for winter, and kept the household running with care.

People relied on one another’s hands.

And the work they did mattered.
It was functional, beautiful, made to last.

But today, so many of those trades have vanished. The skills that once shaped whole communities are quietly disappearing.

That’s one of the reasons I do what I do.

Like many young people, I left my village after school. In my twenties and early thirties, I lived what many would call a dream life: university and career in Germany, Sweden, and the U.S.

Weekends were for the good life: dinners out, and whenever possible, an escape to Italy... the country that had held my heart since the very first visit.

During one of those trips, I stumbled across something that never left me: a tiny sandal shop in Positano.

An artisan shaping soft Italian leather into exquisite custom sandals — in minutes, as I watched.

I’d never seen anything like it. I remember thinking, "this is incredible" … and "one day, I’ll learn how to do this."

Of course, I had a pair made. I still have them. Timeless. Worn, but  as beautiful as ever.

And that "one day" came years later.

By then, I was married. A mother. 
And everything had shifted.

The pace and values of the corporate world no longer fit.

So we made a bold decision: to move across the world
to Australia’s Sunshine Coast longing for a slower, more intentional life for our family.

I knew I wouldn’t return to my corporate career. 

I wanted to be at home, present with my children, who were just two and four at the time. And still, I felt the pull to build something of my own.

Something I could grow slowly, with care and intention. From home. Alongside motherhood.

That’s when I remembered the craft I had fallen in love with years earlier on the Amalfi Coast: the art of bespoke Italian sandal making.

What followed was a two-year journey of deep immersion.

Months of research.

Multiple trips to Italy. 

A long search for the right mentors and trusted suppliers.

Years of trial and error. 

Eventually, I had the honour of learning from a father and son — master artisans who entrusted me with their generational knowledge.

That was in 2014.

I then spent a decade of building my own artisanal business in Australia: crafting sandals for women in my community, teaching local workshops,
and eventually mentoring women across the world.

Today, Sandal School holds all of that.

I help creative women master the craft of bespoke Italian sandal making — women who want to build something lasting, meaningful, and refined,
using the same time-honoured techniques once entrusted to me.

Together, we’re shaping a modern artisan movement: one that honours tradition and reimagines what it means to build with purpose.

In a world chasing trends that fade quickly, we’re choosing to create what’s personal and made to last.

Apply for SANDAL MASTERY