We just got word that Tom Shoes just won the prestigious People’s National Design Award presented by Isaac Mizirahi in New York City. Way to go Toms!
The Buried Life toured the Toms headquarters last month and we were in awe of what this company is doing. For every shoe they sell, they match and give one shoe to a kid somewhere in the world that doesn’t have shoes. The owner, Blake Mycoksie came up with the idea 2 years ago when traveling around South America seeing how many kids were barefoot. His travels made him realize he wanted to start a company where for every item he sold, he gave back something simple to help make the world a better place. In just 18 months Toms Shoes has become a company to watch and a trend we hope every company thinks about in the future.
Watch the video for all details of the company and to see Blake win this award.
Very cool! I love my Toms shoes!! Way to go, Blake!
Comment by Annie — October 25, 2007 @ 3:57 pm
Tom’s is now on Yelp!
Comment by Co9Mom — October 26, 2007 @ 11:50 am
It was awesome to meet you guys at the TOMS HQs. We’re all looking forward to your documentary!
Comment by Leah — October 29, 2007 @ 9:56 am
Children should be encouraged to use the shoes they are given sparingly…
http://www.health24.com/news/Foot/1-2223,42667.asp
October 26, 2007
Researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand today announced the astonishing results of a study on the health of human feet published in the November issue of the journal The Foot.
The study reveals that early human populations that didn’t wear shoes, had healthier feet with fewer pathologies than modern groups of humans who wear shoes. The research was conducted on over 180 modern humans from three different population groups (Sotho, Zulu and European) and on skeletons of humans more than 2000 years old.
“our study suggests that the reason Africans have generally healthier feet is probably due to the fact that the mid-twentieth century Africans examined probably came from rural areas and thus may have been barefoot as children - a much healthier situation for their feet than the European group which probably wore shoes from an early age”.
Both authors agree that the results of the study indicate that if one’s goal is to have fewer foot problems, then going without shoes is the healthier option. But Dr Zipfel is quick to point out that there are some situations where wearing shoes is mandatory for hygienic reasons. “Shoes should be worn in public areas, restaurants and toilets and situations where there might be the danger of stepping on sharp objects,” he notes.
Comment by Consistent1 — November 1, 2007 @ 1:23 am