WORDS by KATE BLACK | IMAGES SUPPLIED by PIKOLINOS
If you’re a lover of all things shoe, you may have – in your many hours of scouring the Earth for exciting new shoe prospects – discovered Pikolinos. If not, I’m delighted to let you in on the secret.
Pikolinos is a Spanish shoe company founded in 1984. It prides itself on high-quality, handcrafted leather footwear that identifies with the qualities of a Mediterranean lifestyle – light with splashes of colour; comfortable and laid-back in style and form. The brand’s slogan ‘naturally good’ expresses its wholehearted commitment to environmentally friendly production processes, using chromium-free leathers, natural vegetable dyes and water-based glues that contain no toxic components. Instant HTWE brownie points.
To give back to society…
To get us even more excited, we learnt that the values of Pikolinos are most honestly expressed by founder, Juan Peran, whose ambition is ‘to give back to society some of what society has given [him]’. To this end, the Juan Peran Pikolinos Foundation benefits numerous social development initiatives in Spain, Peru, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, and other countries.
Our favourite (we’re biased as it’s close to home and we’re Kenya-besotted) is the Maasai Project, a line of exquisite, beaded sandals designed and crafted by women from the Maasai communities in Kenya and Tanzania.
Hand-embroidered in Kenya, made with love in Spain.
The leather for each sandal is cut and dyed with love in Spain, sent across the ocean to the Maasai Mara, and distributed amongst the women involved in the project. These ladies create a working environment for themselves – amongst their homes or under the shade of the Acacia trees – embroidering the leather with bold, beaded motifs and colours that are unmistakably Maasai.
While many of these women weren’t previously earning an income, the stable salaries they now earn help them to fund the healthcare, education and other needs of their families. To boot, the skills gained from exposure to the global production process are invaluable steps towards a sustainable future.
To find out more about the Maasai project and these gorgeous sandals, visit: maasai.pikolinos.com
