It’s April 2020 and my lower back is sore, my knee injury is persistent, and my feet are freezing. I call up my chiropodist friend and ask for an indoor shoe recommendation.

The only recommendation that was decent was sneakers. Well what about a slipper with the support that was also cozy, and has a bit of style, I asked. Nope. Nothing to recommend. I can make you an orthotic that you can put into a shoe of your choice, she said. So I did just that. But it really got me thinking about why there wasn’t a supportive slipper out there that was both cozy (not too warm) and also stylish. I had calls with handfuls of foot experts that summer and learned as much as I could about materials, functional features, what counts as actual comfort versus fake comfort, the list goes on. 

Fast forward months, almost a year, to when Vic and I finally got to what we felt was the perfect slipper. It encompassed everything we knew slippers were missing from a functional standpoint and everything we desired from a sophistication standpoint. It was imperative to us that we create styles that are classic and timeless. Styles that can take you through any season, and any event (well almost any event). 

The Audrey

"We decided to name our slipper styles after women we admired, were inspired by, and who embodied our brand’s mission: for all women to live boldly."

It was only fitting that we name one of our flagship styles after one of the most timeless, classiest women of all: Audrey Hepburn. She was a film and fashion icon and has left one hell of a legacy. I remember seeing Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady as a kid (and then continued to watch over and over again) and thought - what a quirky, talented, class-act woman. She danced, she sang, she did good in the world and was and still is an inspiration to so many. With legacy as one of our core values, we decided to name our slipper styles after women we admired, were inspired by, and who embodied our brand’s mission: for all women to live boldly. Audrey was that. So bold. And so was my late great-grandmother who is the inspiration behind the design of the Audrey. 

Sheina aka Chez

"Stories of her life were passed down to me from my father and other family members and from all the stories I was told, I learned how determined of a woman she was."

My late great-grandmother Sheina (pronounced shay-na) died a few years before I was born at the age of 103. Stories of her life were passed down to me from my father and other family members and from all the stories I was told, I learned how determined of a woman she was. She was a survivor. She escaped from the pogroms (violent anti-semitic riots) in eastern Europe and fled to South Africa where my grandparents and father were then born and raised. My grandmother (who I refer to as Bobba) adored her family and always put family first. That is one of the biggest pieces of her legacy. Although she suffered from mental health issues from having a difficult upbringing, she built a business with her husband (my late oupa Ezra) from scratch. They arrived in South Africa with basically no money and created a new life for themselves. Entrepreneurship seems to run in my family… and will become a part of my legacy too. 

I was recently told that my bobba Sheina had terrible feet. I had no idea! “She would have loved comfortable slippers,” my cousin Viv told me. So it feels right to have this brand named after Sheina, and to design the Audrey, our classic House Flat, with extra support since I know my bobba, a working mom, would have benefited so much from a supportive, chic slipper. 

Curious to learn more about our brand story and the other half aka Mave? Check out our other blogs to learn more.