Stepping Forward

by Angela L.

I once asked my grandfather out of curiosity, why he decided to make shoes. He looked at me and said, “When someone leaves the house, the last thing they do before they step out into the world is to put on a pair of shoes, and to be able to make that thing someone needs throughout the day is an honor, because it’s like you’re helping them go places and in a sense walking with them.” As a child, I didn’t fully comprehend the feeling of creating something that can be present in someone’s daily life, but now, through the experience of starting THEY, I have come to understand the enormous satisfaction and gratitude when someone wears a pair of our shoes. To us, footwear is more than just an accessory, it’s a story of how we’ve put forth the value of literally walking in your shoes to create a product that focuses on your comfort and lifestyle. And it just so happens that they look nice too. It is easy to say “minimalism” or “clean aesthetic”, but how does one visually describe a feeling or present an image that can invoke the emotions that we have been experiencing? The age old saying of how “a photograph is worth a thousand words” echoed through the studio with each click, and we realized how carefully we must decide which words we wanted our viewer to see when they take an interest in our product. THEY is born through our passion for great design and to introduce a product that puts great emphasis on the beauty of simplicity. Moreover, we want our customers to share our journey of continuing this family legacy and be able to connect on a personal level to the shoes that we make. For Jack and I, it was an emotional moment while we were kneeling down to tie the shoelace for our model, because at that moment, we looked at each other and realized how far we’ve come since our grandfather sold his first pair of shoes. To be able to continue the work that he has done is an honor to us both, and we are extremely blessed and excited to share this experience with the world.