FULLY SHOE WOW
Tiara Walters finds shoes that are all natural, good for your sole — and still pretty
ORTHOPAEDIC footwear with sex appeal? Believe it or not, shoes for problem feet do not have to be hideous. International online retailer healthyfeetstore.com proves this, and Cape Town entrepreneur Isabelle Steiger has gone a step further by introducing Think! shoes — which incorporate high-end orthopaedic technology and environmentally friendly production — to the SA market.
“I brought Think! shoes to South Africa on my feet,” says Steiger. “I’d bought five pairs from markets and stores in Switzerland. It was love at first sight, but I really had to look for them — they’re only sold in specialist stores, even in Europe. When I wore them back home, even strangers commented on how beautiful they were, which gave me the idea to sell them. A year later, I imported 180 pairs from the shoemakers in Kopfing, Austria.”
Steiger began trading at Cape Town markets in 2008. Last year, she opened a dedicated store at the V&A Waterfront. Think! shoes are also stocked at the Cape Quarter, Lunar Boutique at 44 Stanley in Joburg, and can be bought online. Steiger will deliver anywhere in SA.
The shoes are so comfy they feel like stepping into butter. There are 85 styles that would hold their own in designer boutiques: coral leather slippers with a subtle heel and elegantly pointed toe; avant-garde lace-up pumps in snakeskin print; flats in skin-coloured leather …
As for the brand’s enviro-credentials, the insoles are cork. Fully recyclable and biodegradable, they adjust to the shape of the foot. The outer soles are made of natural latex from a sustainable species of rubber tree and the uppers are made of organic leather from tanneries certified for their environmental standards.
“These,” says Steiger, “source their leather from free-range cows killed for food. The hides are by-products that would otherwise go to waste. The vegetable dye is completely natural, which means the inner lining is hypo-allergenic, toxin-free, moisture-absorbent and porous. Your feet can breathe.”
The price tags — from R1 500 to R4 000 — have raised eyebrows, but Steiger says: “The shoes are handmade, imported and moulded on a last for eight hours. Everything is natural, which is more costly and timeconsuming. Vegetable-dyed leather, takes three weeks to produce. I don’t think they’re expensive, if you think of what you’re getting.”
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