The art of the Partlow Boot

• Sold online and through upscale boutiques and department stores nationwide, the Partlow brand pays homage to their colorful paternal grandmother.

Sisters and business partners Kasey Lemkin and Lawren Sample have created a luxury cowboy boot line that has risen to the top of the industry, competing with brands around since at least 1883. These savvy entrepreneurs, born in 1977 and 1980 in Jackson, Mississippi, seem to have inherited know-how and a work ethic, combining everything they loved best about their childhood into an incredible business—and a fun collaboration of their unique gifts.

Sold online and through upscale boutiques and department stores nationwide, the Partlow brand pays homage to their colorful paternal grandmother, “Gigi” Partlow of Plantersville. “Gigi” loved fashion, ran a beauty salon in her backyard, never left home without full makeup, and set her hair in curlers every night. As little girls, Kasey and Lawren considered their “Gigi” the ultimate in style and glamour.

Their love for cowboy boots, however, came from their mother, Julie, who put her baby girls in cowboy boots almost from birth, mostly because her mother had put Julie in cowboy boots as a child. Their attachment to cowboy boots has been lifelong. Lawren, the mother of two daughters, passed her childhood boots on to her own girls. And yes, they, too, at ten and fourteen, California girls to the core, prefer cowboy boots.

The sisters, graduates of Jackson Academy, were known among their high school friends as creative individuals who shared a proclivity for independence and style. When Kasey graduated from high school in 1996, she didn’t follow the traditional path of most of her friends and head off to a four-year college. Instead, she enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, where she found her calling in international trade and marketing, and studied Italian and French as second languages. Her deep understanding of merchandising led to long stints with wholesale teams at several designer brands in New York and Los Angeles. Kasey, the mother of four boys, now lives in Dallas.

When Lawren finished high school three years after Kasey, she didn’t follow her sister to New York City; instead, she chose Los Angeles, thinking she wanted to work in costume design in Hollywood. Her first big on-location job at Jennifer Lopez’s home taught her that “I was too ADD for movie costume design,” calling it “long form” rather than “short form,” styling for a specific event or occasion. She launched herself as a celebrity stylist, and “My life has been nonstop ever since.” Her clients include Anne Hathaway, Rosario Dawkins, Jamie King, and Christina Hendricks. She has also worked with Shakira, the Rolling Stones, and other entertainment icons.

Over two decades in fashion, they found themselves reaching for cowboy boots regularly, simply because they loved them. Clients often commented that Lawren could confidently pair her boots with almost anything and still pull off a polished look with panache. Lawren and Kasey got the idea for their own brand from a conversation they had while together in Dallas during COVID in 2020. They bemoaned how hard it was to find the perfect pair.

The Birth of the Perfect Boot

“Why not design the boot we want?” They asked. The idea became a three-year project with exacting details in the engineering of their boots. A statement on their website describes their goal: “a cowboy boot that felt as considered as the rest of our wardrobes. One that could sit next to our best pieces without looking out of place.” Kasey emphasizes, too, that their boots are meant to be worn and worn and worn. They are made for all-day wear and walking and should not be handled as though too precious to enjoy.

“Ultimately,” says Lawren, “Kasey and I went back to what we knew — back to our roots — even though we had been around all these different shoes and different high-end fashion, we went back to our roots.”

Kasey says, “But we modernized it. It was really important to us to take something that’s been around forever and modernize it and make it more wearable, especially in these bigger cities that weren’t so ready for something they considered ‘western.’”

Partlow is manufactured in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy. The calves’ leather is the best leather in the world, and as Kasey says, “The Italians have been crafting leather longer than anybody else. However, if we could have made them in Mississippi, we absolutely would have!”

The sisters introduced their first boots at a trunk show in Dallas in 2023. 150 women lined up to grab a pair that first day. This was Texas. They were optimistic, though not shocked. Texas and cowboy boots go together like New Orleans and jazz.

The true test came a few weeks later at their next trunk show in Los Angeles. The response was overwhelming. Now in their third year, each season is bigger than the last.

With 30 to 35 styles in their line, there is a cowboy boot for any and every occasion and taste. Each one is named for someone they love, someone who inspired them, encouraged them, or lifted them as women entrepreneurs. Their impressive website features photos of the entire collection. Jackson’s Maison Weiss will be the first Mississippi retailer to carry Partlow in spring 2027.

Kasey and Lawren’s success is its own inspiration for young women everywhere. They have never backed away from a challenge, and even when some of their youthful, out-of-the-box thinking gave their parents pause and a few gray hairs, both credit their parents with encouraging them, teaching them to work hard, and teaching them to persevere.

At sixteen, Lawren came home from school one day and announced that she was moving to London for six months. Her father’s response? “You are in high school. You are not moving to London.”

Not so long after, Lawren moved to London for six months. The story remains a much-told family legend.

Kasey’s advice to young women who have a streak of independence and a creative mindset is this: “Never take ‘no’ for an answer. The first ‘no’ is an objection —not a final answer.”

Perseverance is a virtue the Sample girls learned well.