A Letter From The Founder - The Della
A Letter From Eleanor · Founder of Eleanor & Co
Australia · September 2026
Getting my shoes on had become the slowest part of my morning. So I had these made instead.
On the six things I would not compromise on when we made the Della, why a shoe you step straight into still needed a strap across the top, and why the first run is going out at $79.95.
There is a chair by my front door that I did not put there for sitting in. It arrived about four years ago, quietly, for the purpose of getting my shoes on, and I did not admit what it was for until a friend asked me why I kept a chair in the hallway.
The Della is the shoe I had made so that chair could go back to being furniture. Of everything we are bringing in for this summer, it is the one I most wanted to write to you about properly, rather than simply putting a photograph of it in front of you.
I should tell you what I was arguing against, because it explains the whole thing. Shoes fall into two piles. The first is the proper shoe, which stays on beautifully and needs you to sit down, bend over and do something up before it will. The second is the slip-on, which asks nothing of you at the door and then spends the day quietly coming off, so you walk with your toes curled to hold it on and call that comfortable.
I never accepted that those were the only two options. The Della is my answer, and there were six things I insisted on, usually against a supplier who would have preferred I did the cheaper thing instead.
1 A real strap across the instep.
This is the whole shoe, so I will start here. An open-backed shoe normally stays on by friction and hope, which is why you end up gripping with your toes. A strap across the top of the foot takes that job off your toes and gives it to the shoe. It fastens with one small jewelled button, which does not ask you to bend down to a buckle.
“I have never been able to wear a backless shoe because they flap about and I have to hold on with my toes. The strap makes all the difference.”
Beverley A. · Bendigo
One button, done standing up. That is the whole ask.
2 An upper that is woven open, not sealed shut.
Our summers are harder than the ones most shoes are designed for. A closed upper in February is a small oven, and by the middle of the afternoon your foot knows it. The Della is woven with the gaps left in, so the air moves through the shoe instead of sitting inside it with you.
“My feet swell in summer and most closed shoes are unbearable by lunchtime. These breathe properly. I wore them through a warm day and forgot about them.”
Glenys M. · Perth3 An orthopaedic footbed, under a smooth lining.
Underneath there is an orthopaedic footbed, shaped to the foot rather than flat as a plank. Over it, the shoe is lined right through, because an open-woven shoe has an obvious failing waiting inside it: all those edges, against your skin, all day. Lined heel to toe, what your foot actually sits on is soft and continuous, and the weave stays on the outside where it belongs.
“I was worried a woven shoe would rub, because the last pair I had did. These are completely smooth inside, and there is proper shape under the foot rather than a flat board.”
Denise W. · Toowoomba
Smooth the whole way through. The weave stays on the outside, where it belongs.
4 A low heel, and a wide one.
Not a flat plank, and certainly nothing you would have to think about. A block heel of about two centimetres, cut square and set wide under the back of the foot, so it sits down solidly on a tiled floor instead of tipping. That is all it is there to do.
“I gave up heels years ago and completely flat shoes do not suit me either. This little heel is exactly the right amount and it feels steady underfoot.”
Lorraine P. · Ballarat5 A broad toe, softly rounded.
Broad and gently rounded, never pointed. A pointed shoe does not politely suggest your toes move inwards, it moves them, and if you have ever taken your shoes off in the evening and found your foot a shape it was not that morning, that is what has been happening. The Della is cut wide across the front, so your toes sit where they already sit, and the weave gives where the foot is widest.
“I have a wide foot and a bunion I would rather not discuss, and pointed shoes are simply out. The wide toe means there is room exactly where I need it.”
Pauline R. · Newcastle
The gold. Not the one I expected to wear most, and I was wrong about that.
6 Six colours, and four of them are for Tuesday.
Black, white, camel and brown are the four that go with what is already hanging in your wardrobe, and they will do the shops, the garden path and lunch without being thought about. The gold and the silver are the other kind, for the days that matter. Most women who find a flat that works do not want one of it.
“I ordered the camel first and went back a fortnight later for the black. At this price it seemed silly not to, and now I do not think about shoes in the morning at all.”
Maureen T. · GeelongThe part I will be straight with you about
The Della is open at the back and woven open across the front. That makes it a warm-weather shoe, and I would rather tell you now than have you find out in July. It is not what I would put on for a wet footpath or a cold morning.
From the first warm week through to the end of March, though, it is the pair by my door. The house, the shops, the car, lunch, the garden path, the moment somebody knocks at the door. Shoes you step into on the way out and stop noticing. I was quite deliberate about which shoe I was making, and being honest about the season it is for is worth more to you than pretending it is every shoe you own.
The Della, against the woven flats you have been buying
You can find a woven flat for seventy dollars almost anywhere this summer. I know, because I bought a great many of them first.
- Backless, with nothing across the top
- Held on by curling your toes
- A flat board, and raw edges on your skin
- Pointed, and narrower than your foot
- Completely flat, or a heel you must think about
- Two colours, neither of them yours
- A strap across the instep, with one button
- Your toes do no work at all
- An orthopaedic footbed, lined smooth over it
- A broad toe, and a weave that gives
- A low, wide block heel of about 2cm
- Six colours, four of them everyday
I refuse to sell a summer shoe that asks a woman to choose between getting it on easily and keeping it on. That is the whole reason the Della exists.
Why the first run is $79.95
The Della is new here. This is the first shipment we have brought into Australia and it has landed at the front of the season rather than the middle of it. The hot weather is still a couple of months off, which is exactly why the price is what it is. I would rather it went out now, to women who will have it by the door ready, than sit in a warehouse while I wait for the weather to make my argument for me.
I will be plain about it. The margin at this price is thin, and it is thin deliberately. I would rather introduce the Della to you properly, at a price that makes it easy to try, than advertise it at the price I would eventually like to charge and hope you take my word for it. That is the whole of the bet I am placing by writing you this letter.
Six colours, Australian sizes AU 4 to AU 12. Full measurements in centimetres are on the product page.
It is the shoe I would put by your door myself. I would rather it go to women who will step into it all summer than sit in a box waiting for the price to make sense.
If you have ever wanted a shoe you can put on standing up that still behaves like a shoe once it is on, this is the one I would recommend — and it is a far better thing to have by the door before the first warm week than to go looking for in January, when every good one has gone.
— Eleanor
The Della — Orthopaedic Mule Flats
- A strap across the instep, fastened with one button
- Woven open, so the air moves through it
- Orthopaedic footbed, lined smooth, low 2cm heel
- Six colours, AU 4 to AU 12
- 30 day returns
Stack and save: buy 2 save 20%, buy 3 save 25%, buy 4 save 30%.
This is a personal letter from the founder of Eleanor & Co. Prices and availability are accurate at the time of writing.