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Saturday, February 13th, 2010

New and Modern Shoes Made the Old-Fashioned Way

by Erika

The last post about beaded shoes inspired a search for other shoes made painstakingly by hand. Are there still people patient enough to make shoes from scratch? Are there shoe brands or companies willing to eat into their profit margins by investing in handmade shoes that have the same style as machine-produced shoes anyways? What do handmade shoes produced in the year 2010 look like?

It was a difficult search. But the good news is, I didn’t come up completely empty-handed. I came across a shoe brand called Tsonga and from the name alone, you can tell that it originates from an exotic place.

Tsonga, Handmade in South Africa

From tsonga-athreadofhope.com:

In the foothills of the Kingdom of the Zulu, South Africa, a story of hope quietly unfolds. Using their meticulous skills, a community of women from the TSONGA tribe are uplifting themselves by crafting TSONGA shoes, turning their abilities into a real future for their children.

Cut from the finest of leathers, TSONGA’s leather uppers are uniquely sewn to the soles by the village craft women. With each stitch, the handcrafted comfort of TSONGA’s shoes delivers the best value for your feet. By using eco-friendly materials we provide a safe working environment for our employees and kind to the environment.

They’re shoes with an environmental and social conscience.

Tsonga shoes are not retro or vintage by design, but their shoemaking processes are. Here are their top 3 best-selling shoe styles:

Tsonga Chaka

“I can”t wait for the weather to warm up! I love how padded the shoe is under the ball of my foot. The (comfortable) heel and taupe color make my legs look longer. Perfect.” – From Portland, Oregon