Sarah Jessica Parker’s relationship with statement shoes extends well beyond Carrie Bradshaw. In 2014, she launched SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker with George Malkemus III, the longtime Manolo Blahnik USA executive, turning one of Sex and the City’s most recognizable footwear associations into a shoe business of her own.
The label became equally associated with Parker’s hands-on approach to retail. She regularly worked inside her New York boutiques, helping customers and wearing designs from the collection herself. On January 17, 2021, she was photographed doing just that at her South Street Seaport store in New York City, pairing relaxed Pangaia track pants with black “Hello Lover” pumps.
The unexpected combination captured a recurring feature of Parker’s off-duty style: rather than saving heels for dresses and red carpets, she often wore polished pumps and embellished boots with jeans, sweatpants, and practical winter layers. That contrast also appears throughout her other SJP boutique outfits.
SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker ultimately ended operations in 2024 after a decade in business, making these boutique appearances a look back at a period when Parker was simultaneously designer, salesperson, and one of her label’s most visible customers.
Sarah Jessica Parker Pairs Pangaia Track Pants With “Hello Lover” Pumps
Sarah Jessica Parker visits her South Street Seaport shoe store in New York City on January 17, 2021, wearing Pangaia track pants with her own “Hello Lover” pumps (Credit: Janet Mayer / Startraksphoto.com / Instar / WENN)
For the January 17 store visit, Parker kept the clothing relaxed with a V-neck top and stone-colored Pangaia cuffed track pants.
Sarah Jessica Parker pairs relaxed Pangaia cuffed track pants with black SJP “Hello Lover” pumps while helping customers at her New York City boutique
She accessorized with stud earrings and a black ribbed face mask attached to a Pretty Connected Nikki mini chain strap, a practical detail particular to the period.
Her black ribbed face mask is secured with a Pretty Connected chain strap
Outside the store, Parker added substantial winter layers, wearing a black puffer over a quilted faux-fur-trimmed jacket. A Samsonite backpack and Beats by Dr. Dre Studio3 headphones kept the look functional.
Parker layers a black puffer over a faux-fur-trimmed jacket outside her Seaport boutique
Why SJP’s “Hello Lover” Pumps Stand Out Against Sweatpants
The defining element was on her feet. Parker wore the black leather “Hello Lover” pumps from her SJP Collection, using a traditional pointed pump to sharpen an otherwise casual outfit.
Sarah Jessica Parker’s black SJP “Hello Lover” pumps spell out the playful slogan across their pointed toes, contrasting sharply with her relaxed Pangaia track pants
The design featured “hello” across one shoe and “lover” across the other, a playful reference to the shoe obsession that became inseparable from Parker’s Sex and the City image.
The connection was intentional without making the shoes costume-like: beneath the lettering was a straightforward black pump that could be styled independently of the reference. Parker’s choice to wear the pair with track pants also reflected how she routinely treated heels as everyday shoes rather than strictly evening footwear.
SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker’s black leather “Hello Lover” pumps feature the phrase divided between the two shoes
That shoe-first approach ran throughout the SJP Collection. Parker wore everything from silver-glitter “Rampling” pumps with Christian Dior to crystal-buckled Mary Janes, colorful pumps, and heeled oxfords while promoting and working in her stores.
Four Days Earlier, SJP Styled Studded Busker Boots With Jeans
Parker had been at the South Street Seaport boutique just days earlier. On January 13, 2021, she again relied on comfortable clothing and much more conspicuous footwear, this time wearing light-wash jeans with black studded knee-high boots.
Sarah Jessica Parker visits her South Street Seaport boutique on January 13, 2021, in light-wash jeans and studded “Busker” boots
She repeated some of the same cold-weather pieces, including her faux-fur-trimmed jacket, and added oversized SJP x Sunglass Hut sunglasses.
The footwear was the SJP Collection “Busker,” a black suede knee-high boot covered in silver studs. Parker repeatedly returned to the style during this period, including with even more relaxed clothing; another SJP look paired the same studded Busker boots with sweatpants.
Parker was known for personally helping shoppers while working inside her SJP Collection boutiques
SJP’s Busker Boots Put Silver Studs on a Classic Knee-High Shape
Made from black suede, the Busker used a relatively traditional knee-high silhouette as a base for rows of silver studs. The embellishment gave the boot enough visual weight to work with Parker’s layered winter outfits without requiring equally elaborate clothing.
The SJP Collection “Busker” combined black suede, a knee-high shaft, and allover silver studs
The Busker and “Hello Lover” looks illustrate two different sides of Parker’s footwear preferences. One starts with the familiar simplicity of a black pump and adds an inside joke across the toes; the other takes the practical shape of a tall winter boot and covers it in hardware. In both cases, Parker wore the shoes with everyday clothes rather than building a formal outfit around them.
From Carrie Bradshaw’s Heels to a Decade of SJP Shoes
Parker’s shoe business was inevitably linked to Carrie Bradshaw, but the SJP Collection developed a substantial footwear history of its own. Launched in 2014 with George Malkemus III, the line became known for Italian production, grosgrain detailing, saturated colors, glitter, and Parker’s personal involvement in selling the shoes.
Her boutique appearances are especially useful for understanding how Parker actually wore the collection. Instead of treating the designs only as red-carpet pieces, she mixed pumps, Mary Janes, mules, embellished boots, and heeled oxfords into the same practical wardrobe of denim, knitwear, track pants, winter coats, and layered accessories.
The label’s decade-long story—from its launch and expansion into standalone boutiques to its eventual 2024 closure—is explored in more detail in our history of Sarah Jessica Parker’s SJP Collection and its shoes.
The business may have ended, but Parker’s connection to statement footwear did not. Her return as Carrie Bradshaw continued that conversation on screen, with And Just Like That… adding another chapter to Sarah Jessica Parker’s long-running shoe story.