Calling all female sneakerheads: You’ll want to follow and bookmark Makeway, a first-of-its-kind women’s “sneaker, streetwear and things” boutique in Canada. Co-founded by Abby Albino and Shelby Weaver — best friends, business partners and former colleagues who met while working with the Toronto Raptors — Makeway is a space for women to come together over their shared love of sport and culture.
Whether shopping with Makeway online or at their standalone retail location in Toronto’s Stackt Market, customers can browse their favourite shoe styles and collabs in women’s sizes while discovering new female-run small businesses, including Ki Collection (amazing masks!) and Santa Isla (the cutest happy face ring!).
In this edition of Take 5, Abby shares behind the scenes details about the Makeway journey—from deciding on a name to cultivating a community—and her top picks for this spring’s sneaker trends.
What is the significance of the name Makeway? Has the meaning changed at all since you opened the shop last year?
After months of struggling to find the right name for the shop, the name Makeway came to Shelby and I while we were both in our respective homes watching a Raptors game. During a WNBA commercial, Seimone Augustus says the words “make way” and that struck us so deeply that simultaneously, we reached for our phones to pitch each other that name as an option. Coming from basketball worlds and being strong advocates for girls and women in sport, we knew it was the right fit and tone for what the shop stood for.
To be completely honest, the name means even more to us now than when we opened. We’ve met so many women since opening and many of them have expressed how much the name resonates with them. It’s so validating and we’re so happy to have a space they feel is their own.
How do you strive to cultivate a Makeway “community,” rather than being solely (pun intended!) a storefront and online retailer?
To us, Makeway belongs to our community. If it wasn’t for them, we simply would not exist and it’s important that they feel welcome, whether it’s IRL or digitally. We plan to include our community in our social storytelling and throughout our programming. It means the world to us to have such an incredible community of women and we want to give them all the flowers!
Makeway is the only Canadian retailer to be selling WNBA hats, which have already been a massive success on preorder alone. Given the incredible buzz, what message do you think—and hope—this sends to the traditional, male-dominated brands in the industry?
We’d like them to understand that the female consumer is not a trend. We’re not just jumping on a sneaker bandwagon; we’ve been fans and participants in the sneaker scene for quite some time and are here to take up space and make sure our voices are heard. Having women in decision-making roles is so important and we hope our store encourages them to hire more women and to consider their female consumer and how different we are.
Which spring streetwear and sneaker trends are you most excited to integrate into Makeway’s stock and your closet?
From a streetwear and things perspective, I’m excited to integrate more local brands into our product assortment. I think there are such amazing women-owned brands in our country and I would love to work with more of them. As for sneakers, I’m looking forward to retro styles and brighter colours. Spring is a great time to show off your style through sneakers and we have some fun ones coming in the next few months.
As we wrap up Women’s Month, here’s your chance to shout out some of the women who inspire you personally and professionally! Who do you think deserves some extra love and praise?
I’d love to shout out the team at Makeway. I’m so grateful to work with such talented and smart women every day and they deserve all the shine. Other than that, from an entrepreneur standpoint, I’m inspired by Luanne Ronquillo from Ruru Baked. She’s done an amazing job growing her business and it’s been awesome to see its growth.
Shortly after, I caught up with JP and complimented his Raptors shirt—the perfect attire for a sold-out show in his hometown!
