Chilewich: Sandy Chilewich One night in 1978, for fun, Sandy Chilewich and her friend, Kathy Moskal, tried bleaching their black cotton shoes, and dyeing them a new color. They were just fooling around in their Manhattan loft, but that experiment sparked the idea for Hue, a line of colorful shoes, stockings, tights, and accessories. It also launched Sandy on a 40-plus year career as a designer and entrepreneur. After selling Hue in 1991, Sandy built up her current, eponymous business based on an innovative design for placemats and other household items made from woven vinyl.

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Chilewich: Sandy Chilewich

August 31, 202012:01 AM ET

Chilewich: Sandy Chilewich

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Sandy Chilewich is founder and creative director of Chilewich

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Karina Perez for NPR

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One night in 1978, for fun, Sandy Chilewich and her friend, Kathy Moskal, tried bleaching their black cotton shoes, and dyeing them a new color.

They were just fooling around in their Manhattan loft, but that experiment sparked the idea for Hue, a line of colorful shoes, stockings, tights, and accessories.

It also launched Sandy on a 40-plus year career as a designer and entrepreneur. After selling Hue in 1991, Sandy built up her current, eponymous business based on an innovative design for placemats and other household items made from woven vinyl.

Special Series

How I Built This

For all new episodes, go to the How I Built This page on Wondery.com