Radical News
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Yes! Journal
Unboxing Our New Uplift Boot
We're in the studio unboxing the first of our Spring styles. Let us introduce you to the new Uplift Boot! Read the transcript...Hi Rad friends, jumping on for a bit of an old school unboxing and that is because we have been working on the most beautiful new style that's about to be released and it feels very unboxing worthy.What's it gonna be? It's a new boot! So this month we're releasing a number of new boots but the one I want to talk to you about today is the Uplift boot. This boot has actually been inspired by my colourist, Jen “Hi Jen”Jen is an amazing lady that works on her feet all day in a hairdressing salon and she is a massive wearer of our Orion Skies boot and the Orion Skies boot, if you've been following along, you'll know is on this lug sole unit. And so I've been thinking about ways to bring that Orion Skies unit (also Patience boot is on this unit), but make it into a more streamlined spring kind of trans-seasonal boot. The other thing that had been happening during the making of this boot was many customers have been writing to us this season asking us to either bring back the Shadow boot or the Luna boot, which were cleaner uppers that we've done in the past. So this has become like a love child of Luna boot and Orion Skies and Patience and all the things and now we have just like a nice beautiful clean fine grain leather boot to take you all the way through…for years really…not even just this season.So the things to know about this boot, it's been executed with a really clean minimal finish. We have the leather bumper edge and there's also an invisible zip. So the idea is that it's very smooth and clean up the leg and definitely looks excellent with dresses and like 7/8 length pants. So you get a bit of that clean edge. The thing that makes this boot though really is the leather. It's a very smooth, soft grain. It's very durable. It's hard wearing. So for ladies like my friend Jen who are on their feet all day and dropping color on their feet, it's a good one because it just wipes off.They're online now. They're fabulous. We can't wait to hear what you think.Okay, stay radical.
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FULL MOON BLESSING // The Important Ritual of Shoe Care
Mark your calendar on the full moon! It's the monthly reminder to give your shoes some love to keep them looking great and lasting longer.
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FULL MOON BLESSING // Our Radical Foot Care Rituals
Caring for your feet is as important as caring for your shoes. While our shoes are designed with comfort in mind, you can always do a little more to pamper your feet.
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R. Yes Radio - Everything is Energy
A playlist of sounds and visual cues inspired by our upcoming Spring Collection ideas and moods.More to share with you soon. PLAY > HereTracklist:Journey In Satchidananda - Alice ColtraneScarab - San of the RambutanMurkit Gem - El Michels Affair, Piya MalikLove Is Everywhere - Pharoah SandersO Fogo - Black FlowerLittle Sunflower - Dorothy AshbyStuck In The Middle - Greentea PengRonger Duniya - Lokkhi Terra, Shikor Bangladesh All StarsNorwegian Wood - CornershopSpace 1 - Nala Sinephro
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5 Reasons Not To Wear The Same Shoes Every Day.
The joyful feeling of new shoes is real. But here are a few reasons why not wearing them everyday is good for your shoes and good for your feet.
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Celebration of Words 2026
Over May and June, we held our inaugural Celebration of Words Creative Writing Competition. We asked our radical community to write a creative piece inspired by the prompt 'Cocoon', the namesake of our AW26 Collection.All we asked was that the piece be no more than 750 words and is human-made. The work could take any form of creative writing, including fiction, poetry, essays, short stories, memoirs, or scripts. The entries were judged by the Radical Yes team, with the winning entry chosen by author Chloe Elisabeth Wilson.We received 199 entries, completely exceeding our expectations. We are still in awe of the sheer talent of our community and the shared experiences we all seem to have, expressed in written form.Our winners' pieces stood out to us early on in the reading process, and here we share their magical and other-worldly stories. Photos by Lucy Lumen. 1st Prize Winner Bao by Berlina YuThree hundred sixty-eight. Cho gulped at the sight of the steaming bao zi in front of her. Its milky, white flesh glistened as the waitress lifted the bamboo lid. Beads of sweat formed behind her neck. The bao zi looked delicious, harmless, even. She’d had them countless times and always knew what flavours to expect, but now all she could taste was the sourness of her dry mouth. A flicker of trepidation moved through her. Three hundred sixty-eight. She counted again. Three hundred sixty-eight swipes in the last forty-eight hours led her here. Cho knew life wasn’t a race. Yet she felt she had barely moved from the starting line, while everyone else neared the finish. Nearing forty, she’d never had a boyfriend, much less a friend that she could message to say, “Hey, guess what? I’m at some dingy hole-in-the-wall in a back alley! I might get kidnapped and have my organs harvested by some guy I just met last night #RIP.” Apart from her mother, everyone else was an acquaintance. Strangers. They were all strangers, really. “Quick, have a bite before it gets cold,” Mr Three Hundred Sixty-Nine said. Looking at his yellow, crooked teeth and severe overbite, Cho felt briefly catfished by his photos. Still, someone had finally responded to her on the dating app. It didn’t matter that it was a tiny, tucked-away sweatbox, the kind weathered tradesmen ate at. If it meant taking a bite of this questionable-by-food-regulatory-standards thing in front of her, she would, just to make him see that she was interesting. Cho felt his gaze as she pressed her lips to the soft bun. She felt a snap and crackle between her teeth as she bit deeper into the filling. It turned elastic and slightly chewy, almost fibrous, with a rich, oily, faintly earthy flavour she couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t unpleasant. But the way he watched her made it taste something else entirely. Cho felt as though she herself looked edible, worthy of being devoured, irresistible to his attention. “In many parts of the world, cocoons are a delicacy…” Cho wondered why disgust never came. Perhaps she was too desperate for it to matter. Later that night, Mr Three Hundred Sixty-Nine deleted his profile. Cho couldn’t remember him well enough to stalk him online. Their date was bleak, filled with the sounds of wet slurping and banging pots rather than conversation. She knew one thing about him, though: he would probably return to the restaurant. And when he did, she would be there. And she would be better next time. She would laugh at the right moments. She would marvel at his taste, his edge, his genius. He would like her. Cho started visiting the restaurant once a week. Then twice. Then almost every night. All she ate were cocoon bao zi. She even skipped other meals, as if there had never been anything else. As if she had not chosen it so much as returned to it. As if, somewhere along the way, this had become the only food that tasted sweet in her memory. But he never came. Cho scrolled through her contacts, looking for someone to send a photo of her bao zi to, but knew no one would reply, not even with a mediocre thumbs-up emoji. She put her phone down and stared at the bun. Plain. Simple. Boring. Like her. Suddenly, a rumble moved through her stomach, followed by a sharp pain. Knots twisted inside her. Her belly heaved and shifted in uneven waves, stretching and lifting. Something was pushing beneath her skin, dying to come out. Cho felt hot. The room pulled inward. The ceiling lowered. Tiny soft legs wriggled on her tongue, a furriness against her gums. Slowly, something emerged. A moth lifted itself out of her mouth. Then another. And another. And another. Although it was horrific to imagine all the cocoons she had eaten rupturing inside her, seeing them flutter around felt comforting. Here she was, with these fragile, restless things. Her loneliness faded. Everything was perfect until warmth touched her face. Morning light. Was it all a dream? She touched her tender belly. Cho reached for her phone and checked the app for matches. Zero. Of course. She closed her eyes and pulled the blanket over her. She curled into herself and lay still as the bed enveloped her. Suspended in silence, in the soft shell she had made for herself, Cho was sealed away from everything. 2nd Prize WinnerFinding Time By Rachael CusickI needed a watch. A cheap one. Ideally one made with the kind of plastic bound for the Great Pacific garbage patch had it not found its way onto my left wrist. With a three hour layover at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, I went searching. “Do you sell watches?” I asked the father-daughter duo holding down the register at Hudson News. No, the man said regretfully as he handed me my Tony’s Chocolonely. “Try next door.” Suddenly, I was being ping-ponged from one empty-handed, eager-to-please Texan to another. At the end of the terminal, I found myself in a men’s shoe store in front of someone I imagine was recently voted captain of his high school baseball team. “I think there’s a Swatch store in Terminal D,” he said. The airport’s transit system belched me out into the new terminal. I marvelled at the cultural richness. But as it always seems to do, the allure of travel fades. The magnets here were all the same, and there was no Swatch store for miles around. My chance to find a watch, and now dinner, had closed. I wheeled from shuttered Applebees to shuttered Tex-Mex joints. I was preparing to fall on my knees at the mercy of a Subway footlong when I looked up and saw a freshly printed poster. “Your Credit Card Lounge™ Now Open at Gate 22.” I had just opened my first credit card a few months back and vaguely remembered something about lounges. Miraculously, I was already at Gate 18, so I walked a few steps over to 22. Fogged glass doors parted and I was whisked away from the world of the airport. The elevator doors opened onto a meditation retreat. “Thank you sir, that was an excellent scan!” said the attendant to the cargo-shorted man in front of me. Then, I stepped forward, curtseying to the woman behind the counter with dreadlocks and a cake pop bouquet. “Am I allowed to be here?” I asked, sheepish, as I slid my card across the counter. “I’ve never been to an airport lounge before.” I can’t quite remember if the musical number she broke out into was one from Annie the Musical, or the song the munchkins first greet Dorothy with, but before I knew it, she welcomed me in and answered the only question on my mind. Yes, she relayed telepathically. “Everything is free.” I found my way to an empty table, then hesitated. I’ve never, not once, left my bag alone in an airport. I go from home to cab to toilet to gate with backpacks gorilla-glued to my body, certain someone is out to steal my dented Hydroflask I found abandoned on a street in Brooklyn. But today, I offloaded my belongings onto a chair next to a man who was sprawled out like a mermaid on a leather sofa, chaperoning a Louis Vuitton purse. I motored over to the buffet of Texan barbecue, a garden of tiny skillets photosynthesising beneath heated lamps. The lounge closed at 9:00pm. Based on the melting clouds of pink and blue outside the panoramic windows, I figured I was close. I wanted to consume enough meals for the entire winter ahead. I wanted to know what happened to Amelia Earhart. Instead, I split the difference and checked out the ass of a woman who was no less than 75-years-old. Her husband mounted her for a kiss, then lost his balance and fell entirely on top of her. They giggled. He wanted more. I wanted more. The clock struck 9. Loungers closed their laptops and staff circled tables like seagulls at the beach. I moved from denial to anger to the dessert counter for one last round of baklava. I wiped my chin of dignity and honeyed shards, using sticky fingers to return my kn95 mask back to my face. It was time to return to society — the real one, burdened with aerosol particles and plane delays and teenagers who hate their parents and parents who hate their teenagers. I crammed into the elevator with the other last-minute freeloader, a full-grown man cradling a baby-pink cake pop in his giant hands. We bubbled together in our final silky moments of airport lounge joy and self-dissolution. Just before the Terminal button lit up, we turned to each other and said, at the exact same moment, “This was the best night of our lives.” And then the metal box cracked open, releasing us to flutter around the cruel, cold world.
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Radical Yes...Help Me Find My Best Sandal Fit!
An exploration into the magical, metaphysical world of shoe fitting In today's post, we share two ideas to consider in finding your perfect summer sandal. The first speaks to the barebones practical idea of ‘which fit is best for my foot?’ - based on a physically deductive method. The more easy to capture ‘wide feet’, ‘long feet’, ‘been-dancing-too-long-bumpy-feet’ gives us an easy check box list of things to consider with our key ‘365’ styles. But then there is the (perhaps) bigger consideration of which sandal ‘fits’ the privilege of making it into your life as a long-wearing, multi-purpose, conversation-starting statement sandal. A design idea we cycle through every season in the (re)creation of our ‘always on’ 365 styles. With this in mind, let’s talk first about the all-important practicalities. Wide Feet If your feet are wide - The best styles in our ‘365’ sandal collection for wide feet include our highly reviewed and much adored Arkestra Fisherman Sandal, as well as the (also highly reviewed and loved) Visby Sandal. Both offer good foot coverage, and the all important arch support in the midsole that speaks to the practical imperatives of ‘all day on your feet’ wear. Long & Narrow Feet If your feet are narrow or long, it’s all about the Neptune Sandal. With adjustable velcro straps covering both the arch and ankle, the midsole on this style runs slightly longer than other sandals in our 365 collection making them a favourite for customers with dancer-length toes. Watch the video below to see our Retail Team Leader, Sumedha, sharing all her tips from The Fitting Salon on how to choose your size for these ‘365’ styles. Now. Let’s talk about the radical imperative of ‘365’ styling Styles that we consider ‘365’ talk to our ideas of both ‘all year round styling’ (you know we love a sandal and sock combo) as well as ‘easily deserving of more than a year’ in your wardrobe status. Case in point - our classic T-Bar Declaration Sandal, which we have now been making for an amazing 7 years (!) basically unchanged. See the sandals. Transcript: Kerryn: Hi Rad Friends! We're here in Radical Land with our wonderful Retail Team Leader, Sumedha. Welcome! Sumedha: Hello! Kerryn: Today I asked you to come into Radical Land so we could talk about sandal fits, because it’s sandal season soon. We pulled together our 365 styles, and I thought with all of your experience Sum, in the store fitting feet, what's your view on how they're all going? Sumedha: So the easiest question first, what is running true to size? The Arkestra Sandals. Anything on this unit, they're all true to size, true to fit. So if you're usually a size 39, you would be a size 39 in these ones. Now, what is running a bit long? Neptune Sandals. So I would say if you're usually a size 39, size down in these ones to a size 38. Kerryn: We've like debated whether to change the last and everything, but we've been selling that shoe for so long, it's like, don't change it, just leave it, just size down. Sumedha: Now, with the Declaration unit, anything on this unit, that also includes the Sophia Sandals, it’s running short lengthwise. So if you’re usually a size 39, please size up to a size 40. Kerryn: It's always worth checking on the website. We do put a lot of notes as well on the fits for all the different shoes, and sometimes Sum, the materials make them run a little differently, don't they? Sumedha: With the Visby, if you've got a wider foot, I think this is something I would recommend because it's got a wider strap. The Declaration has a narrower strap at the vamp. So if you’ve got a wider foot and you want to feel a bit more supported, the Visby is your pick.
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Radical Yes Reads Your Reviews: Adventure Awaits Clog
We're back in our design studio, and we're reading your reviews. In this episode, we dip into the mailbag (aka - online reviews) to see what you're saying about our Adventure Awaits Leather Clog. We also award our favourite review a $250 Gift Voucher! So click below to watch the video and check if it was you...or be sure to review your last purchase, and we may send you a treat! Clogs, Slides & Mules. See more backless styles. Transcript: Hi Rad Friends! We're here in Radical Land Studio with a very exciting episode of ‘Radical Yes Reads Your Reviews’! Hooray! It’s been a while, so we thought we might jump on and do one of our most highly reviewed shoes now - Adventure Awaits - look how proud she is. All right, so, let's get straight into it, but actually before I do, I do want to say that we're giving a $250 gift voucher to the best review. So that's going to make you stay on and see which one it is right? Oh crumbs, here we go - Jasmine says… “Comfiest shoes! Amazing for anyone with high arches as the leather upper is soft enough to not press into the top of your foot. Almost like sandals!” Jasmine, couldn't agree more, they are almost like sandals with a closed toe, definitely something we had in our minds. “… the sole is spongy and flexible too, so you don't feel like you're wearing hard cork slip-ons.” Not going to say what brand that is, but there is another brand that makes them like that. “… had to get another pair!” Thanks Jasmine. We really agree with everything you've said there, but I think the high arch point is a particularly good one, because we do have a lot of customers with high arches, and this shoe does really accommodate around that. Mary said… “Like walking on clouds!” Clouds are coming up a lot for these shoes. “… these are my fourth pair…” Thanks Mary! “… of Adventure Awaits Clogs, I have them in multiple colours. They've become my favourite Radical Yes shoe. Wearing my Adventure Awaits Clogs feels like walking on clouds; they're incredibly comfortable and great for wide feet.” This is so our shoe for wide feet. When people ask us, “I have wide feet, I have problem feet”, straight to Adventure Awaits. “...The arch support is fantastic, I hope more colours are released”. There are more colours coming Mary! Stay tuned! “Ultimate Comfort!” Says Mon “I work in a career where I rarely sit down during work hours. My knees and hips had started to ache daily, even rotating other quality brand shoes. Since purchasing, I wear these Monday to Friday with no issue. Most supporting shoe and well-made! I did find the run large, would have loved the size down. Thanks Radical Yes! Local and quality.” I do want to make some comments on that Mon, and that is, the first thing is Monday to Friday wear we have to wear them every other day, remember. We’re not going to wear them every single day because otherwise they’re going to get worn out too quickly. We like to let the shoes have a little rest in between wears. Couldn't agree with you more that they do run a little bit large and some people do size up - sorry - size down because they run large. That's something to keep in mind if you are looking at this style. But the insole is really super comfortable. It's made from an EVA foam, it's got a lot of - it's a memory foam, so it actually reflects your foot back and it keeps it nice and structured underneath, especially in the arch, but it's still really squishy like clouds, exactly as everyone's saying. The last one, which is actually our $250 gift card winner, Jessica… “Hoof heaven! Love love love. I have a long and wide foot, and these are just glorious.”Makes me so happy when we nail a long and wide foot fit. “I ordered the 41 and found them to be pretty generously sized. I consider these shoes up there with my Blundstones and Doc Martins: shoes I'll wear the &%$# out of and keep buying for as long as they make them.” Thanks Jessica, that's such inspiration for us and actually inspires us to make a lot of other colours that we'd been considering. There’s a few things on the board at the moment, we've got the same jade green as the Arkestra Jade. Staying in the Arkestra family, we've also been riffing on the Midnight Plum that we've just put out, which everyone's loving, and we've also got this crochet situation that we've been working on which I only have an upper pattern for so far, but could be a little limited number situation coming soon on that. It's definitely not like Blunstone or Doc Martins uppers; it's a little bit more decorative. But definitely has limited edition excellence written all over it. Coming to a shoe shop called Radical Yes near you soon. All right, that's ‘Adventure Awaits Read Your Reviews’. Stay Radical!
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Celebrating Creative Women: Amy Pearson, SUN MOTHER® Studio.
We recently connected with creative powerhouse Amy Pearson (brand strategist, coach, designer and podcaster), through another creative powerhouse and friend of our brand, Lucy Lumen (photographer, content creator and long time radical collaborator).
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