According to Ivo Staiano, flip flops can be worn in any situation with a couple of exceptions.
I think you can wear flip flops pretty much anywhere, the Flying Flips founder says. Theyre a ubiquitous footwear.
Well, except maybe for a funeral or Yellowknife, he adds with a laugh.
It is the popularity of the footwear, the unpretentiousness of the flip flop that gave California-native Staiano the idea for Flying Flips, his philanthropic company that is based on the Buy One Give One principle. When you purchase a pair of their locally designed, eco-friendly sandals, partner charity groups Souls4Souls and Fundación A. Jean Brugger donate a pair of footwear to a person in need.
The designs are submitted by local designers and are then posted online for visitors to vote on. The winning design receives a $300 prize and is sold on the Flying Flips site.
Everyone from small, independent artists to artists with a bigger following have all been interested and submitted their work, says Trevor Broad, Flying Flips co-founder and website developer. Weve received some really good quality designs.
The winning designs are implemented sustainably with the flips flops made of 20 to 30 per cent post-consumer recycled material. Broad says his organization will even allow customers to send back their used Flying Flips footwear to be recycled and receive a discount on their next pair. Additionally, Flying Flips is working with a group in Mexico to finance the replantation of rubber trees.
We want to make them as recycled and as eco-friendly as possible, Broad says. But we also want to create a community of creative people, all focused on the same goal.
As a former restaurateur (he is the past owner of the New Bohemian in Kitsilano), it is this community, this unique connection to ones personal space that Staiano wanted to continue with in the Flying Flips idea.
I liked how flips flops are very much identified with personal time I liked the idea of being involved with that, he says. People are working more and more, with less extra time, and I always took it as a real compliment when they decided to spend that personal time with me, in my restaurant. I guess Flying Flips is an extension of that of wanting to be involved with people on a personal level.
On a personal level, Staiano feels that the Flying Flips customer feels a connection as well.
When they put them on their feet, they identify with that, he says. When theyre walking around, they know theyve given that same feeling, that benefit, to somebody else. It really connects people with the charity.
To buy or vote on Flying Flips sandals, visit FlyingFlips.com.
