The humble South African shoe that Hollywood A-listers, British royals love
Al JazeeraIn August 2016, Nick Dreyer packed up his failing art dealership in Johannesburg and decided to head back to his native Cape Town. “The Nigerians felt Nigerian, the Americans felt American, … but the South Africans could have been from anywhere.” “We started talking about how we could improve the uniform,” Dreyer says in the duo’s shared office in the vibey headquarters of Veldskoen, the shoe manufacturer that emerged from that conversation between Dreyer and Zondagh. “Seventy-five grand!” Unbeknownst to them, Dreyer’s Facebook campaign had driven 120 people from all over South Africa to access the online shop and buy their imaginary shoes. “Instant validation.” ‘Local leather, local glues, local rubber’ Once they had sent shoes off to those first customers, Dreyer and Zondagh started looking for a long-term manufacturing solution. The people who own Veldskoen are South African.” That’s why, he explains, they will never enforce their trademark on people using the name “veldskoen” to sell shoes made in South Africa.
History of this topic
The power of sneakers to bring people together
Live MintDiscover Related
)
