[An edited version of this interview first appeared in Issue 23 of The Fluevog Post for Fall/Winter 2024.]
Amrit Khalsa, Fluevog Brooklyn, Store Manager
Years with Fluevog: 4
Where are you from?
The Bronx
What were your first pair of Fluevogs?
They don’t have a name, or I have yet to find its name, but some ’90s F-Soles in a navy box leather!
What are currently some of your favourite styles?
Graceville: Rhonda! Graceville: Hilda! Voggettes: Misty!
What was your first Fluevog experience?
When I was 17 and wandering around Boston, I stumbled upon the old Newbury location. I walked in with my tail between my legs, explaining that I was just looking around and a broke teenager so pay me no mind. To which the Fluevogologist replied, “What’s your size? We are gonna play dress up!” They rushed back with a massive stack of Minis and Swordfish heels! We just chit-chatted about life and vintage! They made me feel so welcome and cool, and it didn’t matter if I could afford them or not!! That kind of warmth and inclusiveness really stuck with me. Since then, Fluevog has been swirling around in my head and heart!
Describe Brooklyn, New York in a nutshell:
A stinky fabulous melting pot!
Brooklyn favourites (food, entertainment, shopping, etc.):
Food: Polka Dot (Best Polish Pierogies!). Entertainment: Company XIV (Immersive Burlesque). Shopping: Beacon’s Closet Bushwick on Bogart St.
Something that would surprise people about Brooklyn:
We have 30 miles of shoreline and some pretty good beaches, as long as you don’t mind riding the train to the last stops! We also invented the fried Twinkie!
Something that would surprise people about you:
I grew up in a cult and lived in India from middle to high school!
What is your favourite Fluevog store (other than your own)?
This is still kind of cheating, but New York! Honorable mention for Amsterdam! That storefront is so, so gorgeous and gothic!
Favourite part of working for Fluevog?
Being the first link in the chain of memories attached to a person’s shoe and helping create a special moment for people! (I’m a very sentimental person.) The people! Fluevog customers and staff are the most insane people I’ve ever met, in the best way! Everyone is such an onion of human beings (not in a stinky way, but in the many layers way… yes, that is a Shrek reference). Umm, also the shoes! God, the shoes!
Next top three travel destinations:
New Orleans, LA. Madonna Inn, CA. Cove Haven Resort, PA.
Strangest pronunciation of Fluevog you’ve heard?
Fluevoggle (in a very thick New York accent) from my father — he still can’t get it right!
