Sarah Flint Turns 'Sense and Sensibility' Into Hand-Embroidered Shoes

Shoe designer Sarah Flint will release a handcrafted capsule collection inspired by Focus Features' new "Sense and Sensibility" adaptation on Sept. 30, exclusively at SarahFlint.com. The limited line lands just over two weeks before the film opens in U.S. theaters on Oct. 16.

Flint teamed with Focus Features to translate the contrasting personalities of sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood into shoes, scarves and Georgian-era floral details, with colors and motifs drawn from the visual world of the film.

What's in the collection?

The capsule centers on two of Flint's signature shoe silhouettes:

• The "Emma" — the more understated style, fashioned after the sensible, reserved Elinor.
• The "Natalie" — takes its cues from Marianne's romantic, free-spirited personality.

Both styles are made from linen and hand-embroidered with Japanese anemones, a nod to the needlework and textile traditions of the period. Two hand-painted scarves complete the line: the Anemones Scarf, painted by Flint herself, and the Dashwood Scarf, created by her longtime collaborator Katarzyna Strozynska-Goraj.

Why hand embroidery?

"Anemones are one of the classic English garden flowers, and in the old language of flowers, they mean anticipation," Flint said. "We hand-embroidered it onto linen, the same slow, careful way women of that era would have worked, one stitch at a time, because printing it would have missed the point."

For Flint, the collaboration doubled as an Austen passion project. "I've wanted to do something with this book for years, so when this collaboration came together, it felt like the equivalent of a superfan getting asked to plan a reunion tour," she said. "I didn't want a shoe with a movie logo slapped on it. I spent real time on where Elinor ends and Marianne begins, down to which thread color went on which shoe."

Who made the new film?

Focus Features and Working Title's "Sense and Sensibility" stars Daisy Edgar-Jones as Elinor opposite Esmé Creed-Miles as Marianne. The cast also includes Caitríona Balfe as Mrs. Dashwood, Frank Dillane as John Willoughby, George MacKay as Edward Ferrars and Fiona Shaw as Mrs. Jennings.

Georgia Oakley ("Blue Jean") directs from a screenplay by bestselling author Diana Reid. The film follows the Dashwood sisters after the death of their father forces the family to leave its estate and adjust to more modest circumstances, while they navigate romance, heartbreak and the rigid expectations of Georgian society. Oakley's debut feature earned her a BAFTA nomination; Reid is best known for novels including "Love & Virtue."

How does it compare to past Austen adaptations?

The film marks another literary outing for Focus and Working Title, whose previous Austen projects include Joe Wright's 2005 "Pride & Prejudice," starring Keira Knightley, and Autumn de Wilde's 2020 "Emma," starring Anya Taylor-Joy.

The new version faces a formidable predecessor. Ang Lee's acclaimed 1995 adaptation starred Emma Thompson as Elinor and Kate Winslet as Marianne, and Thompson won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.

The Sarah Flint x "Sense and Sensibility" capsule goes on sale Sept. 30 at SarahFlint.com, giving Austen readers a chance to wear the sisters' divergent temperaments — thread by thread — before the film arrives in theaters.