‘Wicked’ shoes designed for wanderers, wild at heart

Resort season — you know, the time when Canadians all flee from the cold, wet weather in search of sun and sand — is upon us.

And if you’re headed for a hot holiday, you may be in need of a fun, new pair of footwear. If this is the case, Jen Rainnie may have just the thing for you. The founder of the Vancouver-based brand Malvados creates stylish sandals and shoes for those who favour the “surf/beach lifestyle.”

We caught up with Rainnie to learn more about her line, what makes it unique, and more. Q For those who aren’t familiar, what is Malvados?

A Malvados is a lifestyle footwear brand inspired by music, travel and fashion. I created the brand after working for many other popular footwear brands over the years. I felt that there was something missing in the market and I decided to launch a new and unique sandal company. Q What’s the story behind the name?

A The name means “wicked” in Spanish. This was one of my favourite words to use in high school. Q What makes it different from other footwear brands?

A I felt that all of our competition focused on a marketing strategy based on a surf-beach lifestyle. We are inspired by iconic rock ’n’ roll musicians, wanderers and the wild at heart. Our styles are named after cocktails and rock stars. Our brand ambassadors are musicians, DJs and travel bloggers.

We really showcase a lifestyle that is current and relatable to our demographic. Basically, we offer a line of footwear that will take you from beach to festival and every windows-down, hairin-the-face road trip in between. Q Is there anything that may surprise people to learn about Malvados?

A We are going into our third year of business and we have over 1,000 accounts in North America. And we are now available in 26 countries worldwide. Q What has been the response to the brand so far?

A The response has been fantastic. Our customer base in Canada is the strongest because I feel that both retail buyers and consumers are loyal to locally designed product. Also I feel that we resonate really well with our demographic, being authentic to who we are and what we believe in. Q What’s next?

A I am focused on export and opening more countries with distribution. We will continue to be innovative with our designs and fabrications, and we are always pushing the limit in terms of offering incredible campaign and marketing strategies showcasing our product.