This was 2013. I was teaching Yoga and wanted a shoe I could wear to the studio with my leggings and an oversized trench that would allow me to continue my journey afterwards on to my ‘real’ job in fashion.
I was dreaming up this shoe that would be neat, flexible and comfortable. That would not cause my lower back to ache and my hamstrings to shorten. I liked the idea of a multi-purpose shoe. Part pixie boot-part trainer. Part casual-part smart. This is where the lines of our very first shoe 'Abundance' were drawn from.
A few years in we realised the flat shoe choice had become more than a pragmatic sartorial choice. Instead it had become something of a statement about where we had arrived as women in the modern world. A dozen times a week or maybe more we hear the same comment in The Fitting Salon – “I never wear heels anymore”.
It is a reflection of the fact that as women we are mobile, active and conscious. In and out of cars, standing on trams, chasing after children, taking care of our loved ones, conjuring creative projects and literally walking our 10,000 steps a day. Women are the lightning rods that bring communities together and colour the world with magic.
And so it emerged from this place, the idea that we now call ‘Flat Shoe Liberation’. It is an idea that gives women permission to come at the world from a truly grounded perspective. To be more in touch with the inner world of true self. Defined by what feels good as much as what looks good.
"And so it emerged from this place, the idea that we now call ‘Flat Shoe Liberation"
At Radical Yes, we believe a flat shoe can be both elegant and a bold statement. It can be sharp as much as it can be casual. But most importantly it can provide the foundation for living your most creative life.
This is Radical Yes.
