Breaking In: How Two Industry Outsiders Launched a Shoe Brand with an Innovative Footbed

Two years ago, Sarah and Chris Rhoads were outsiders to the shoe industry. But that didn’t stop the husband-and-wife duo from creating their footwear brand, Commbi, which officially launched this week.

Derived from the word “combination,” Commbi debuted online Tuesday with four styles — three pairs of slides and a mule — for men and women in a variety of colors and textures. The shoes feature removable and interchangeable insoles, a manifestation of the original idea that made Commbi a reality in 2022.

At the time, the Rhoads were on their feet every day, building their creative agency and photography studio, We Are The Rhoads. They spent days shooting 10- to 12-hour shifts for Coca-Cola, New Balance and Toms, and realized they needed more support from their shoes. But they didn’t want to sacrifice style.

Chris and Sarah Rhoads met in college and have worked together as creative directors and photographers for more than 15 years.

“It really came out of necessity,” said Sarah, one of the couple, who lives in Los Angeles. “I tried all the so-called orthotics or comfy slippers or shoes, but they didn’t work as expected.”

Eventually, Sara began wearing insoles in her slippers to get through the long days on set, a temporary solution that ultimately led her and her husband to the idea of designing a shoe with a removable insole.

“Because I stuffed these insoles into my shoes, we thought, ‘How great would it be if people could choose a capsule collection of shoes and be able to customize their shoe experience to make it more personal?’” Sara said.

So, after nearly 15 years together as creative directors, the Rhodes embarked on a new venture: designing a new shoe that combined style and function. Both new to the industry, the couple sought advice from experts and worked with podiatrists to prioritize body alignment for the insole. They built the brand from scratch and raised some funding through a small round of friends and family investment.

“At first, we thought this must have already existed,” Chris said, describing the early stages of creating the brand. “As we dug deeper, we realized there was a unique niche here that wasn’t really being targeted.”

Beyond comfort and style, Commbi’s insole model helps address footwear waste, as consumers only need to replace one component of their old shoes, rather than the entire product. Commbi also uses recycled paper in its packaging and chooses to ship its products by sea instead of air, which reduces its carbon footprint.

The shoes are made in Asia and cost between $150 and $180, depending on the style. Commbi is launching with eight different interchangeable insole options, ranging from terry cloth to faux leather to shearling. Each pair of insoles retails for between $35 and $45.

Looking ahead, the Rhoads are eyeing big. Following their direct-to-consumer launch online, the couple has their sights set on wholesale expansion. They are also planning future product lines and are currently patenting their replaceable insole design.

While the couple were new to the shoe industry when they started, they now see their non-shoe industry background as an advantage.

“We’d never made shoes before. We had no idea what we were doing. But we relied on what we’d honed over the past 15 years as creatives," Sarah says. "Sometimes, in an industry that’s been doing things a certain way for so long, it can be refreshing to be an outsider.”