How Two Sisters From Texas Bootstrapped A Luxury Cowboy Boot Brand, Miron Crosby

There’s a certain class of ultra-luxury brands that only a select few know about. These cognoscenti brands are ultra-exclusive, ultra-authentic and often ultra-expensive but also handcrafted for those who value ultra-quality.

That was the original definition of “quiet luxury,” until it morphed into a no-logos fashion look that everybody seems to be wearing these days.

Miron Crosby is such an original “quiet luxury” brand, but the product it makes is anything but quiet – bespoke, luxury cowboy boots. Miron Crosby serves a narrow niche within the wider luxury boot market, but that’s the thing about ultra-niche luxury brands. Its niche clientele pull others who want to be in the know into the brand’s orbit.

In true “quiet luxury” fashion, Miron Crosby whispers, it doesn’t shout. It’s become a thriving business that has grown into three stores, called studios, since its founding in 2017.

Its flagship studio is located in Dallas’ exclusive Highland Park Village. Houston opened last year in historic Lamar River Oaks center and in its first venture outside Texas, it has a studio in Aspen, CO where the quiet-luxury crowd flocks in the winter. Miron Crosby also has a thriving e-commerce business where you can design-your-own boots in your private jet.

“We are a fashion brand that makes cowboy boots and the fashion component is what really differentiates us,” shared co-founder Lizzie Means Duplantis with me.

“There was a total void in the market for handmade, hand lasted cowboy boots that were really ‘luxe’ and fashion forward, particularly for women,” though the company also offers boots for men and kids too.

Boots In The Blood

Lizzie is joined by her younger sister Sarah Means in the Miron Crosby adventure. They grew up on a far-flung cattle ranch outside Marfa, TX, which their family has run since 1884 – just a year after the fictional Yellowstone Dutton family set off from Texas to Montana, but I digress.

The company name is a take on their great-grandfather’s, Marian Otis Means, with Crosby coming from the name of a pasture on the ranch and it’s also their favorite street in SoHo.

Growing up, cowboy boots were part of the sisters’ ranch uniform, but being girls with an interest in fashion, they never settled for standard styles. They had a special insiders’ connection where cowboy boots were concerned.

Their cousins owned the Rios of Mercedes Boot Company in South Texas and the girls were able to design their own boots and play with colors and materials at an early age.

Rios remains one of Miron Crosby’s three valued manufacturing partners operating on both sides of the Rio Grande.

Winding Road Back To Texas

After attending an Austin boarding school, both sisters graduated from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, then headed to New York City to make their way.

Lizzie’s first gig was as an intern in the marketing department at Forbes, which she turned into a full-time gig for five years. After that, she moved into finance at Goldman Sachs. Sarah followed a path in fashion, working for Loeffler Randall, which specializes in footwear.

But both women brought their cowboy boots along to NYC. “I was kind of Uptown and Sarah, as the creative one, was more Downtown, but we both wore our cowboy boots to work,” Lizzie said. “So I’d go to Goldman in my pencil skirts with my cowboy boots and Sarah did the same. Always people would stop us on the street and ask where they could get a pair.”

That early market research sat idle for a while as Lizzie returned to Texas, married, started a family and launched a furniture rental business. Sarah followed back to Texas shortly after, but to pursue a law degree at Texas Tech University.

“Being the bossy older sister, I finally sat Sarah down to talk seriously about the cowboy boot idea. I sold my rental business and used that money to fund Miron Crosby,” Lizzie said.

Sarah added, “It was a crazy time. Lizzie was pregnant with her third child and I was in law school so I had to commute back and forth to the store on the weekends.”

That was in 2017 and Sarah completed her law degree in 2018. But practicing law wasn’t in the cards. She immediately went full time to work at Miron Crosby.

Timing Right

The sisters’ instincts proved right as “cowboy chic” became a thing with the premiere of Yellowstone in 2018. “People are thinking about the West more than they were before, which only helps our category. We’re of the belief that rising tides lift all ships, and the more exposure to western wear the better,” Lizzie said.

While the company offers off-the-shelf selections, it’s known for bespoke personalization – having one’s initials or special date sewn onto the boot’s ear pulls or having a handwritten note transcribed into the liner of the boot.

The website also offers a design-your-own app where a customer can design their boots from a variety of features, colors, materials and styles. And a custom concierge service is available in studio or by phone to walk the client through creating their custom boot from the sole up.

Customization takes a bit longer for delivery, but then, the wait is part of the brand’s authentic luxury.

Taking It To The Bank

Miron Crosby has enjoyed remarkable success. Year-to-date, sales are running nearly 50% over 2023 and it increased the number of new customers by 69% in that time. About two-thirds of revenue is generated at retail, with the remaining one-third from e-commerce.

Growth like can strain an entrepreneurial venture, especially as the company was opening a new store in Houston last year. They found themselves strapped for cash but instead of turning to the venture capital markets, which Lizzie with her background would have no trouble navigating, they went to the bank for a loan instead.

“It was an interesting time trying to figure out what to do,” Lizzie shared. “We put a deck together and entertained the notion, but at the 19th hour we secured a bank loan and we’ve worked past that now. We ultimately decided we didn’t want to go the VC route and kept it in the family.”

Not being a cognoscenti in cowboy-chic style, I asked how many cowboy boots a woman can own and Lizzie said, “You’d be surprised. You can wear them any where, from work to date night to a wedding and knocking around town. But you’ll want to change them up depending on the occasion.”

Miron Crosby’s data proves that point. Some 47% of sales are generated from repeat customers.

Kicking Up Their Heels

Marilyn Monroe famously said, “Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.” Boots are even more empowering and with the right pair of cowboy boots, she’s ready to take on the universe, just ask English-actress Kelly Reilly, who plays Beth Dutton in the Yellowstone series.

Beth is truly a kiss-@ss character and how better to do that than in a pair of cowboy boots. And what professional woman doesn’t want a bit of Beth to rub off on her? I don’t mean the conniving, vengeful, brawling Beth, but to have some of her fearless strength and take-no-prisoners attitude.

That’s what Lizzie channeled in her Goldman Sachs days when she made cowboy boots part of her work uniform. Now she and her sister Sarah are giving women the chance to feel that same cowboy-boot power through Miron Crosby.