I just got back from a two week trip to New Zealand. What an incredible country. The best way for me to describe it is: "Lake Tahoe meets Hawaii". It’s that amazing of a place. We toured the South Island and drew a TON of inspiration from the Kiwi culture as well as spoke with dozens of folks who live in flops year round.
During that same time Rao has been focusing efforts on the south-west market of the US. Specifically Texas. We will have a lot more on that effort shortly.
Rao and Hema just got back from a trip to Goa where they put a few of our latest designs to the test! Goa is located on the west coast of India in a region known as Konkan. Known for its beautiful beaches and comfortable climate, Goa pulls visitors from all over the world as a resort destination. Perfect for testing out Common Soles flip-flops!
When sorting and packing my ski equipment this morning I didn’t think twice about tossing in a pair of Common Soles flip-flops. I always travel with a pair of flip-flops, no matter where I go. Beach, mountains, business trip, or grandma’s house; like my tooth-brush and a pair of board-shorts, a good pair of flip-flops always accompanies me.
I started carrying flops with me everywhere I traveled about 7 years ago. It was during my days in business consulting that I discovered the value of slipping into a comfy pair of flops after a long day of stiff dress shoes. The toe-freeing liberation of my feet set a whole new tone for my body once the suit came off and the flops and jeans went on. I would stroll out of my hotel room and for a jount to the local taqueria for a casual dinner, or grab a paper to read in the lobby. There was something magical about wearing flops that made me feel relaxed and refreshed.
Rao and I have literally scowered India for all and any eco-friendly materials to integrate in our forthcoming styles of flip-flops and footwear. We met with dozens of vendors selling product that comes from all over India and Asia. The bummer part is they all smiled when we asked for eco-friendly materials and kindly shook there heads. hmmm... what to do as we were not going to give up that easily!
It turns out there are quite a few eco-friendly materials that we could easily integrate into our footwear. They just hadn't been branded that way so nobody knew it, not even the vendors selling the goods. Here's a sampling of what we found and plan to integrate into our next few styles.
Jute: Jute is a vegetable fiber that grows all over India. In fact India harvests more than 2 million tons of jute every year which puts them in the lead for tonnage harvested in the world with the next country not even at half that. Jute is better known as Burlap here in the US, so now you all know what I'm talking about. Jute is 100% biodegradable and recyclable which makes us happy! Look for jute in our straps and soles in the future.
Paper: Paper pulp is used to make card-stock. We use card-stock for the hang-tags and hangers for our flip-flops. Apparently almost all the paper pulp processed in India is post-consumer which is something they completely fail to mention! It may be that post-consumer is perceived as a negative quality wise for the paper producers, but we see it as a positive!
Coconut: You all know the coconut. India harvests more than 9 million tons of it a year putting it at third in the world. The shell of coconuts can be cut and polished to produce a variety of materials which can be used in making a flip-flop. Coconut fiber is also used in several varieties of textile such as the popular Cocona material often used in sportswear.
While we were in India we took samples of the above materials and came up with a few prototypes that used as many eco-friendly materials as possible. Here are some pictures of that prototype. It has a woven jute sole impregnated with natural rubber for durability and traction, coconut beads and hardware on the strap, and a woven jute insole on the footbed. Let us know what you think!
-Dave
Meet the Maestri. He is the guru that figures out how to assemble the wacky product ideas we come up with. Maestri does it with a cool head, steady hand, and incredible patience. It's amazing how he is able to take our garbled direction and actually produce a product that not only looks good, but fits!
I am enroute to India to meet up with Rao who has been hard at work over there on new product and initiaitves for Common Soles. As a result we won't be posting any new blog entries until we return the week of Oct 11th. (I know, you'll miss us...)
The purpose of the trip is to get the next few styles and initiaitves dialed in. A women's flip-flop similar to the picture here, and a men's flop! Each flop will be sold to generate funding to support an initiaitve relevant to the workers that made the flops. Most likely these initiatives will be education related. The plan is to have these new styles available later this fall! Wish us luck and please bear with us these next two weeks as Lisa is running the show here in the US by herself until Oct 11th.
Our Saahi flip-flop was designed to be a versatile, wear-anywhere flip-flop for women. The footbed is comfortable and soft, yet firm enough for all day wear. We've got some great close-up photos of the Saahi that we wanted to share with you. They say a photo is worth a thousand words - we agree!
-Dave
We did it!