Affirmative Traction
People get excited over a new pair of shoes. TOMS Shoes’ founder and “chief shoe giver” Blake Mycoskie gets giddy giving footwear to less privileged children across the globe.
It was a trip in Argentina in 2006 that led Mycoskie to starting TOMS Shoes, after he saw children walking without shoes because of poverty. “They weren’t allowed to go to school because they didn’t have the proper footwear which was part of the uniform,” Mycoskie once said in an interview in the Today Show. “You know, I grew up in Texas… never had to worry about shoes or food or clothing or any of these bare necessities… I wanted to do something to help,” he added.
Mycoskie developed TOMS Shoes in response. Upon returning to the US, he came up with a sustainable business model that gives a pair for a child in need for every pair sold, coupled with “fair wages” in the brand’s factories in Argentina, Ethiopia, and China.
Despite quite a challenging start (Mycoskie had a tiny team working in a studio apartment in Venice, California, and even claimed that there was a time he “had to beg people to buy shoes”), he managed to go back to Argentina after a relatively short time to “hand-deliver” 10,000 pairs for kids in need.
It was probably the precursor to the brand’s shoe drop program, where Mycoskie and his team coordinate with volunteers and other organizations to distribute shoes in developing countries such as Uganda, Peru, Cambodia, among others. Nowadays, TOMS Shoes has given more than 1,000,000 pairs worldwide.
But why shoes to begin with? Apparently, walking barefoot may put some children at risk for infections and soil-transmitted diseases. Shoes, in a way, help provide protection for the feet. By ensuring their health, kids are more likely to perform better in their academics. According to a brand report, “a village of healthy, educated children has a better chance of improving the future of the entire community.”
Inspired by the alpargata (Argentinean traditional, rope-soled shoes), the new TOMS collection of casual footwear has gotten a positive reception. Here in the Philippines, the classic slip-ons, along with espadrilles and wedges, have been mostly a hit in a country with year-round tropical weather.
“They go with everything, they’re easy to match, and, of course, they are easy to travel with since they are light,” says Dimples La’O, president of Swim Philippines, the company that distributes TOMS Shoes locally.
For this season, people can look forward to shoes “splashed in delicious colors of yellow and apple green as well as vibrant colors of the ocean, coral and aqua” as interspersed in materials such as crocheted fabric and canvas.
More than keeping its styles constantly updated, the brand also continues its creed to raise social consciousness to its customers through the annual One Day Without Shoes event, which recently culminated at the TriNoma mall in Quezon City. Mallrats went shoeless during that time to get an idea how it is to live life without shoes. It was simultaneously held with the Style Your Sole event, which let shoppers have their TOMS Shoes pairs customized after purchase. - Article courtesy of Manila Bulletin.
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