Chrystia Freeland took a tradition — new shoes for the budget — and kicked it up a notch

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This article was published 19/04/2021 (2023 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tradition states that the Minister of Finance don a new pair of shoes to deliver the budget, a practice that dates back to the 1950. It’s a folksy bit of political theatre, featuring a pair of polished brogues on the steps of Parliament Hill. This year, however, Chrystia Freeland kicked things up a notch.

As the first woman to ever present a federal budget, Chrystia Freeland’s feet were always going to be more closely watched than those who had walked before her. Freeland made the most of the moment. In a playful twist on an “unboxing” video, the Deputy Prime Minister took to Twitter on Sunday to reveal her choice of Budget Day shoes: a pair of sculptural, black pumps from Zvelle, a Toronto-based, woman-led, artisanal shoe company.

There was symbolism behind both the selection and the presentation. In her backyard Twitter video, Freeland nailed a number of pandemic fashion trends, pairing a double-strand of pearls (a sartorial signature of Kamala Harris), and a T-shirt that read “Je parle féministe,” (I speak feminist). “I chose to buy my shoes from a great Canadian woman entrepreneur whose showroom for her company, Zvelle, is based in my own riding here in Toronto,” Freeland said in the video.

For Elle AyoubZadeh, who founded Zvelle five years ago, Chrystia Freeland is a dream client. “It could not get better than this,” said the delighted entrepreneur, by phone from her showroom on Davenport Road. “I’m proud of accomplished women wearing my shoes.”

Freeland paid $295 for a black napa leather pump called Rayna. The style is so new that AyoubZadeh didn’t risk taking the time to photograph it as it arrived by plane from her Italian factory before she sent it off to the Finance Minister’s home. “It is a classic, timeless shoe — a shoe to wear to make history,” said AyoubZadeh.

The design features a nod to AyoubZadeh’s Persian heritage. “I’m an immigrant — I was born in Iran,” she said. “The number five in Persian looks like an upside-down heart,” which is seen in the shape of the vamp. The design also incorporates elements of another Zvelle shoe style, the Amelia, which is named for the female aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart: “The side detailing on the shoe was inspired by the wing detailing of her airplane.”

AyoubZadeh says that celebrating pioneering women is woven into her brand. She sees fashion as an opportunity to fulfill larger, activist goals. On her website, she features conversations with a diverse range of accomplished women, from Kirstine Stewart, an exec with the World Economic Forum to Dr. Edith Eger, the 93-year-old Holocaust survivor and author of The Gift, in whose honour AyoubZadeh named a handbag. These conversations, she said, “aim to revolutionize the way women’s stories are told, and the way their images are portrayed.”

The power of the image can yield massive sale bumps too, particularly when a fashion item explodes into the news cycle. Think of the “Kate effect,” when the Duchess of Cambridge wears a designer brand, such as Canadian label Smythe, whose Duchess jacket is a favourite of the royal. Meghan Markle boosted bottom lines of Canadian brands — including Birks, Sentaler and Mackage — when she wore them. In the political sphere south of the border, like Michelle Obama before her, Kamala Harris is now driving fashion interest, from a return to pearls to her rich-with-meaning inauguration wardrobe, which was widely reported to be created in concert with Hollywood stylist, Canadian-born Karla Welch.

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Politics and fashion can make good bedfellows. On Sunday’s Twitter reveal, Freeland said, “As a special bonus, when I called Elle up to thank her for the beautiful shoes, she told me that CETA (Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement that went into effect on April 1), the trade deal that our government concluded while I was trade minister, helped her a lot.”

For AyoubZadeh, connecting people and ideas is the most important part of her business. “Last year, we gave out 400 pairs of shoes to health care workers in Canada and the U.S.,” she said. They took nominations over social media, she said, and the stories left her in tears: “It was the best thing I ever did in my life, and in my business. When you are purpose-driven, you can really hold on when it is tough.” This boost of confidence from Freeland makes her feel very grateful: “I want to focus on the joy.”